found at work in his armoury, and there was a great demand for his handiwork, as the armour he made was proof against all weapons. The usual price of a full suit of mail was six thousand dinars. The king made them at the rate of one a day. One-third of the proceeds went towards the support of his family, one-third in alms, and the remainder to purchase materials for the building of the Temple. Suleyman also had a trade. He knew the art of kneading stone, and moulding it into various shapes, in the same way that a pastry-cook or a baker moulds dough. Some colonnettes with curiously twisted, rope-like marble shafts in the Dome of the Rock of Jerusalem are shown as his work.
Daûd made a pilgrimage to the graves of the
patriarchs at Hebron, and, on his return to Jerusalem,
expressed in prayer a longing to be as favoured of Allah as they were. He even went so far as to say that he was sure that, if exposed to their temptations,
he would overcome them; with the prospect of a like
reward. In answer to this prayer Allah told Daûd that his petition would be granted, but that, seeing
how the race of Adam had degenerated, the All Merciful, in granting his request, had added a favour with which the patriarchs had not been indulged: that he should be informed of the exact time of his trial. The date and hour were thus announced to the pious king.
When the day arrived, Daûd, full of confidence, shut himself up in the tower which still bears his name, and gave orders that he was on no account
