He therefore caused her
to be conducted through a hall, whose floor was of
crystal, and under which water tenanted by every variety
of fish was flowing. Bilkis, who had never seen a
crystal floor, supposed that there was water to be
passed through, and therefore raised her robe slightly,
when the king discovered to his great joy a beautifully
shaped female foot. When his eye was satisfied, he
called to her: 'Come hither; there is no water here, but
only a crystal floor; and confess thyself to the faith
in the one only God.' Bilkis approached the throne,
which stood at the end of the hall, and in Solomon's
presence abjured the worship of the sun. Solomon then
married Bilkis, but reinstated her as Queen of Saba, and
spent three days in every month with her."
The Arabians and Persians, who have many traditions regarding Solomon,
invariably represent him as adept in necromancy, and as being intimately
acquainted with the language of beasts and birds. Josephus, the great
Jewish historian, distinctly states that Solomon possessed the art of
expelling demons, that he composed such incantations also by which
distempers are alleviated, and that he left behind him the manner of
using exorcisms, by which they drive out demons, never to return.
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