Carpet of Solomon
Carpet of Solomon or Basāṭ of Solomon (Arabic: بساط السليمان) was a carpet which transported Prophet Solomon (a) and his companions to different places with the wind. It is not mentioned in the Qur'an, but having the control of the wind by Solomon (a) is mentioned there. However, some exegetical and hadith sources have mentioned the carpet of Solomon and its features. Al-Allama al-Majlisi has transmitted a hadith about the landing of the Carpet of Solomon (a) in Karbala.
Some believe that Solomon's (a) carpet is more of a myth than a reality. In their view, the story of Solomon (a) controlling the wind created this myth.
Description
The carpet or Basat of Solomon (a) was a vehicle that flew with the winds in control of Solomon (a) and transported him to different places. According to some sources, it was made of gold and silver by daemons who worked for Solomon (a).[1] It is not mentioned in the Qur'an, but taking control of the winds by Solomon (a) is mentioned.[2].[3]. [4] In historical sources and some hadiths, the Carpet of Prophet Solomon (a) is mentioned.[5]
Features
There are different reports about the features, description, and especially the size of the Carpet of Solomon (a). In some sources, its size has been mentioned from one farsakh (about 5 to 5.5 Kilometers) by one farsakh up to four farsakhs by four farsakhs.[6] Its size was mentioned in some sources even up to hundred farsakhs by hundred farsakhs so that it could hold the throne of Solomon (a) and six thousand chairs.[7] Some sources considered it different from a normal carpet.[8]
According to a hadith transmitted by al-Allama al-Majlisi, the Carpet of Solomon (a) held three thousand chairs made of gold and silver where the prophets (a) and scholars of the time of Solomon (a) and also other groups of people sat. On this Carpet, there was also a place for animals and daemons.[9]7
According to this verse, exegetes considered the speed of Carpet of Solomon (a) in the first half of a day (about five to six hours) to be about the distance a person could move in a month.[10] In some sources, it is mentioned that using the wind, Solomon (a) began a journey from Syria in the morning, and from breakfast until lunch (midday snack) time, he (a) arrived in Istakhr (currently in Fars province) in Iran.[11]
Landing in Karbala
Al-Allama al-Majlisi transmitted a hadith about arriving Solomon (a) in Karbala, the place of the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a). The carpet of Solomon (a) is also mentioned in this report. According to this report, Solomon (a) was moving in the sky in his vehicle, but when he arrived in Karbala, his carpet rolled and shook so that he feared that he would fall. After the stormy wind ended, the Carpet of Solomon (a) landed. It is mentioned in the reports that Solomon (a) asked about the reason, and it informed him of the events which would happen to Imam al-Husayn (a) and his companions in that land.[12]
Existence
Some sources considered the existence of the Carpet of Solomon (a) definite.[13] On the opposite, some researchers considered the reports about it lacking any source and regarded it a myth.[14] They believe that the story of controlling the wind by Solomon (a) in the Qur'an has been the origin of this myth.[15]
Notes
- ↑ Anṣārī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 7, p. 191.
- ↑ Qur'an 21:81, "And [We disposed] for Solomon the tempestuous wind which blew by his command toward the land which We have blessed"
- ↑ Qur'an 34:12, "And for Solomon [We subjected] the wind: its morning course was a month’s journey and its evening course was a month’s journey"
- ↑ Qur'an 38:36, "So We disposed of the wind for him, blowing softly wherever he intended by his command"
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 44, p. 244.
- ↑ Divine position of Prophet Solomon (a). Tahoor Website. (Persian)
- ↑ Balʿamī, Tārīkhnāma Ṭabarī, vol. 1, p. 414.
- ↑ Maḥjūb, Būya-yi parwāz; sawābiq-i iʿtiqād-i ādamiyān dar iʿtiqādhā-yi dīnī wa madhhabī wa dāstanhā-yi ʿawām wa ādāb wa rusūm-i Irāniyān, Yahudīyān wa Musalmānān (1), p. 563.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 14, p. 81.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 16, p. 363; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 13, p. 474; Karamī, Tafsīr li-kitāb Allāh al-munīr, vol. 6, p. 314.
- ↑ Maḥjūb, Būya-yi parwāz; sawābiq-i iʿtiqād-i ādamiyān dar iʿtiqādhā-yi dīnī wa madhhabī wa dāstanhā-yi ʿawām wa ādāb wa rusūm-i Irāniyān, Yahudīyān wa Musalmānān (1), p. 563.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 44, p. 244.
- ↑ Qur'anic stories from the beginning of creation to the demise of Prophet Muhammad (s). Ghadir Website, (Persian)
- ↑ Ḥikmat, Bāztāb-i sīmā-yi Qurʾānī Sulaymān-i Nabī ba tikya bar talmīḥ, p. 112, 113.
- ↑ Ḥikmat, Bāztāb-i sīmā-yi Qurʾānī Sulaymān-i Nabī ba tikya bar talmīḥ, p. 112, 113.
References
- Anṣārī, Khāja ʿAbd Allāh. Kashf al-asrār wa ʿuddat al-abrār. 5th edition. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1371 Sh.
- Balʿamī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad. Tārīkhnāma Ṭabarī. Edited by Muḥammad b. Rawshan. Tehran: Surūsh, 1378 Sh.
- Ḥikmat, Shāhrukh. Bāztāb-i sīmā-yi Qurʾānī Sulaymān-i Nabī ba tikya bar talmīḥ. Summer and Spring 1394 Sh. No 16.
- Karamī, Muḥammad. Tafsīr li-kitāb Allāh al-munīr. Qom: ʿIlmiyya, 1402 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. 10th edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
- Maḥjūb, Muḥammad Jaʿfar. Būya-yi parwāz; sawābiq-i iʿtiqād-i ādamiyān dar iʿtiqādhā-yi dīnī wa madhhabī wa dāstanhā-yi ʿawām wa ādāb wa rusūm-i Irāniyān, Yahudīyān wa Musalmānān (1). Iran nāma; No 8, Summer 1363 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 2nd edition. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1390 AH.