he alighted from his carpet, and went to the ploughman, and said, "If I say, 'Praise be to God,' and God accepts my praise, verily it is of more value than the whole of my kingdom." Then he again mounted the carpet and continued his journey. And he passed by el-Medînah, and prophesied, saying, "This is the town of the last of all the prophets; and they who believe in this prophet, of a truth their place is in Paradise." And when he reached Mekkah, behold! graven images stood around the Kaʾabah, and people were worshipping the graven images. And he passed on in silence. And the Kaʾabah wept. And when God saw the Kaʾabah weeping, He sent an angel, which said to the Kaʾabah, "Why weepest thou?" The Kaʾabah replied, "Because a great prophet has passed, and wise men with him, and they have not stopped nor blessed me." And God said, "Do not weep, for in the latter days I will send to thee much people, and the last of the prophets shall come from thee. And I will turn the hearts of men to thee as the heart of a mother to her son. But the prophet whom I will send will break in pieces all these images."
And when King Solomon had passed by the
