Heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with its vehement



clamor, and neither Shaddad nor any of his company set eyes on the

city. Moreover, Allah blotted out the road which led to the city,



and it stands in its stead unchanged until the Resurrection Day and

the Hour of Judgment."



So Mu'awiyah wondered greatly at Ka'ab al-Ahbar's story, and said to

him, "Hath any mortal ever made his way to that city?" He replied,



"Yes, one of the companions of Mohammed (on whom be blessing and

peace!) reached it, doubtless and for sure after the same fashion as



this man here seated." And (quoth Al-Sha'abi) it is related" target="_blank" title="a.叙述的；有联系的">related, on the

authority of learned men of Himyar in Al-Yaman that Shaddad, when



destroyed with all his host by the sound, was succeeded in his

kingship by his son Shaddad the Less, whom he left viceregent in



Hazramaut and Saba when he and his marched upon Many-columned Iram.

Now as soon as he heard of his father's death on the road, he caused



his body to be brought back from the desert to Hazramaut and bade them

hew him out a tomb in a cave, where he laid the body on a throne of



gold and threw over the corpsethreescore and ten robes of cloth of

gold, purfled with precious stones. Lastly at his sire's head he set



up a tablet of gold whereon were graven these verses:

Take warning O proud,



And in length o' life vain!

I'm Shaddad son of Ad,



Of the forts castellain,

Lord of pillars and power,



Lord of tried might and main,

Whom all earth sons obeyed



For my mischief and bane,

And who held East and West



In mine awfulest reign.

He preached me salvation



Whom God did assain,

But we crossed him and asked,



"Can no refuge be ta'en?"

When a Cry on us cried



From th' horizon plain,

And we fell on the field



Like the harvested grain,

And the Fixt Day await



We, in earth's bosom lain!

Al-Sa'alibi also relateth: It chanced that two men once entered this



cave and found steps at its upper end, so they descended and came to

an undergroundchamber, a hundred cubits long by forty wide and a



hundred high. In the midst stood a throne of gold, whereon lay a man

of huge bulk, filling the whole length and breadth of the throne. He



was covered with jewels and raiment gold-and-silver wrought, and at

his head was a tablet of gold bearing an inscription. So they took the



tablet and carried it off, together with as many bars of gold and

silver and so forth as they could bear away.



And men also relate the tale of

THE SWEEP AND THE NOBLE LADY



DURING the season of the Meccan pilgrimage, whilst the people were

making circuit about the Holy House and the place of compassing was



crowded, behold, a man laid hold of the covering of the Ka'aba and

cried out from the bottom of his heart, saying, "I beseech thee, O



Allah, that she may once again be wroth with her husband and that I

may know her!" A company of the pilgrims heard him and seized him



and carried him to the Emir of the pilgrims, after a sufficiency of

blows, and, said they, "O Emir, we found this fellow in the Holy



Places, saying thus and thus." So the Emir commanded to hang him,

but he cried, "O Emir, I conjure thee, by the virtue of the Apostle



(whom Allah bless and preserve!), hear my story and then do with me as

thou wilt." Quoth the Emir, "Tell thy tale forthright."



"Know then, O Emir," quoth the man, "that I am a sweep who works

in the sheep slaughterhouses and carries off the blood and the offal



to the rubbish heaps outside the gates. And it came to pass as I

went along one day with my ass loaded, I saw the people running away



and one of them said to me, 'Enter this alley, lest haply they slay

thee.' Quoth I, 'What aileth the folk running away?' and one of the



eunuchs who were passing said to me, 'This is the harem of one of

the notables, and her eunuchs drive the people out of her way and beat



them all, without respect to persons.' So I turned aside with the

donkey and stood still awaiting the dispersal of the crowd, and I

• marvel [´mɑ:vəl] n.令人惊异的事；奇迹 (初中英语单词)


• flutter [´flʌtə] vi.飘扬；摆 n.拍动 (初中英语单词)


• moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)


• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)


• paradise [´pærədais] n.天堂；乐园 (初中英语单词)


• lieutenant [lef´tenənt] n.陆军中尉；代理；副手 (初中英语单词)


• accordingly [ə´kɔ:diŋli] ad.因此；从而；依照 (初中英语单词)


• commander [kə´mɑ:ndə] n.指挥员，司令员 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)


• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)


• description [di´skripʃən] n.描写 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• diligent [´dilidʒənt] a.勤奋的 (初中英语单词)


• thereupon [,ðeərə´pɔn] ad.因此；于是 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


• thither [´ðiðə] ad.到那里 a.那边的 (初中英语单词)


• departure [di´pɑ:tʃə] n.离开，出发 (初中英语单词)


• blessing [´blesiŋ] n.祝福 (初中英语单词)


• doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)


• mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)


• refuge [´refju:dʒ] v.&n.避难(所)；庇护 (初中英语单词)


• horizon [hə´raizən] n.地平线；范围；视野 (初中英语单词)


• wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)


• relate [ri´leit] v.阐明；使联系；涉及 (初中英语单词)


• circuit [´sə:kit] n.环行 v.(绕….)环行 (初中英语单词)


• virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)


• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)


• concerning [kən´sə:niŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)


• desolate [´desəleit] a.荒凉的；孤独的 (高中英语单词)


• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)


• therein [ðeə´rin] ad.在那里，在其中 (高中英语单词)


• strewn [stru:n] strew的过去分词 (高中英语单词)


• gravel [´grævəl] n.砾石 vt.铺砾石 (高中英语单词)


• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)


• ascertain [,æsə´tein] vt.探查；查明 (高中英语单词)


• builder [´bildə] n.建筑者；创造者 (高中英语单词)


• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)


• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)


• pavilion [pə´viljən] n.大帐篷；亭子 (高中英语单词)


• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• accomplishment [ə´kʌmpliʃmənt] n.完成；成就；才艺 (高中英语单词)


• removal [ri´mu:vəl] a.可移动的；可去除的 (高中英语单词)


• rejoicing [ri´dʒɔisiŋ] n.高兴；欢呼 (高中英语单词)


• stubborn [´stʌbən] a.顽固的；坚持的 (高中英语单词)


• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)


• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)


• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)


• tablet [´tæblit] n.碑；牌；匾额 (高中英语单词)


• underground [,ʌndə´graund] ad.&a.地下(的) (高中英语单词)


• chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)


• breadth [bredθ] n.宽度，幅面，广度 (高中英语单词)


• inscription [in´skripʃən] n.题名；题字；碑文 (高中英语单词)


• whilst [wailst] conj.当…时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• beseech [bi´si:tʃ] v.恳求，哀求 (高中英语单词)


• wondrous [´wʌndrəs] a.极好的 ad.惊人地 (英语四级单词)


• affright [ə´frait] vt.&n.恐吓，恐惧 (英语四级单词)


• whereupon [,weərə´pɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语四级单词)


• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)


• antique [æn´ti:k] a.古代的 n.古物(董) (英语四级单词)


• happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)


• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)


• accomplished [ə´kʌmpliʃt] a.完成了的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)


• refined [ri´faind] a.精制的；文雅的 (英语四级单词)


• towering [´tauəriŋ] a.高耸的；强烈的 (英语四级单词)


• corpse [kɔ:ps] n.尸体 (英语四级单词)


• lastly [´lɑ:stli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)


• warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)


• raiment [´reimənt] n.衣饰 (英语四级单词)


• pilgrimage [´pilgrimidʒ] n.朝圣；远游；人生历程 (英语四级单词)


• conjure [´kʌndʒə] v.祈求；召(鬼)；变魔术 (英语四级单词)


• rubbish [´rʌbiʃ] n.垃圾；碎屑；废话 (英语四级单词)


• citadel [´sitədl] n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 (英语六级单词)


• whereon [weər´ɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语六级单词)


• unchanged [ʌn´tʃeindʒd] a.不变的；依然如故的 (英语六级单词)


• threescore [´θri:skɔ:] n.&a.六十(的) (英语六级单词)