They answered, “Cast the body of a beast before the dogs, and place bread or a boy upon thy father, and bury him.”[647] David had such a beautiful voice, that, when he sang the praises of God, the birds came from all quarters and surrounded him, listening to his strains. The mountains even and the hills were moved at his notes.[648] He could sing with a voice as loud as the most deafening peal of thunder, or warble as sweetly as the tuneful nightingale. He divided his time, say the Mussulmans, into three parts. One day he occupied himself in the affairs of his kingdom, the second day he devoted to the service of God, and the third day he gave up to the society of his wives. As he was going home from prayer, one day, he heard two of his servants discussing him and comparing him with Abraham. “Was not Abraham saved from a fiery furnace?” asked one. “Did not David slay the giant Goliath?” asked the other. “But what has David done that will compare with the obedience of Abraham, who was ready to offer his only son to God?” asked the first. When David reached home, he fell down before God and prayed: “Lord! Thou, who didst give to Abraham a trial of his obedience in the pyre, grant that an opportunity may be afforded me of proving before all the people how great also is mine.”[649] But others relate this differently. They say that David besought the Lord to endue him with the spirit of prophecy. Then God answered, “When I give great gifts, he who receives them must suffer great trials. I proved Abraham by the fire, and by the sacrifice of one son, and separation from others; Jacob by his children; Joseph by the well and the prison; Moses by Pharaoh; Job by the worms. I afflicted all these, but thee have I not afflicted.” But David said, “O Lord, prove me and try me also, that I may obtain the same degree of celebrity as they.”[650] One day, as David sang psalms before God and the congregation, a beautiful bird appeared at the window, and it attracted his whole attention, so that he could scarcely sing. David concluded his recitation of the psalms earlier than usual, and went in pursuit of the bird, which led him from bush to bush, and from tree to tree, till it suddenly disappeared near a secluded lake. Now this bird was Eblis, and he came to tempt David into evil. When the bird vanished, David saw in the water a beautiful woman, bathing, and when she stood up, her hair covered her whole person. David hid behind the bushes, that he might not startle her, till she was dressed; then he stood forth, and asked her her name. “My name,” said she, “is Bathsheba,[651] daughter of Joshua, and wife of Uriah, son of Hanan, who is with the army.”[652] Then David departed, but his heart was inflamed with love, and he sent a message to Joab, the captain of his host, to set Uriah before the ark in every battle. Now those who went before the ark must conquer or fall. Three times Uriah came out of battle victorious, but the fourth time he was killed.