_Solomon died standing._ Solomon employed the genii in building the Temple, but, perceiving that his end was at hand, prayed God that his death might be concealed from the genii till the work was completed. Accordingly, he died standing, leaning on his staff as if in prayer. The genii, supposing him to be alive, toiled on, and when the Temple was fully built, a worm knawed the staff, and the corpse fell prostrate to the earth. Mahomet refers to this as a fact: When We [_God_] had decreed that Solomon should die, nothing discovered his death unto them [_the genii_] except the creeping thing of the earth, which gnawed his staff. And when his [_dead_] body fell down, the genii plainly perceived that if they had known that which is secret, they would not have continued in a vile punishment.--_Al Korân_, xxxiv. _Solomon’s Favorite Wife._ Prior, in his epic poem called _Solomon_ (bk. ii.), makes Abra the favorite. The apples she had gathered smelt most sweet; The cake she kneaded was the savory meat; All fruits their odor lost and meats their taste, If gentle Abra had not decked the feast; Dishonored did the sparkling goblet stand, Unless received from gentle Abra’s hand; ... Nor could my soul approve the music’s tone, Till all was hushed, and Abra sung alone. Al Beidâwi, Jallâlo´ddin, and Abulfeda, give Amīna, daughter of Jerâda, king of Tyre, as his favorite concubine. _Solomon Kills His Horses._ Solomon bought a thousand horses, and went to examine them. The examination took him the whole day, so that he omitted the prayers which he ought to have repeated. This neglect came into his mind at sunset, and, by way of atonement, he slew all the horses except a hundred of the best “as an offering to God;” and God, to make him amends for his loss, gave him the dominion of the winds. Mahomet refers to this in the following passage:-- When the horses, standing on three feet, and touching the ground with the edge of the fourth foot, swift in the course, were set in parade before him [_Solomon_] in the evening, he said, “Verily I have loved the love of earthly good above the remembrance of my Lord; and I have spent the time in viewing these horses till the sun is hidden by the veil of night. Bring the horses back unto me.” And when they were brought back, he began to cut off their legs and their necks.--_Al Korân_, xxxvii.