After the revelation of Ornias the demon, Solomon one day received a letter from the
king of the arabians, which read as follows; "To King Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard
about the wisdom bestowed on you by the Lord, and that you are a merciful man. We know you
have been granted understanding over all the spirits of the air, and on earth, and under
the earth. Right now, in the land of Arabia there is a spirit of the following kind: at
early dawn, caused by this spirit, there begins to blow a certain wind until the third hour.
Its blast is so harsh and terrible, that it slays man and beast. And no spirit can live
upon earth against this demon. I pray you then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, come
up with a solution according to the wisdom given to you by the Lord you God, and accept
to send a man able to capture it. If you would do this, King Solomon, I and my people and
all my land will serve you till death, and all Arabia shall be at peace with you, if
thou will perform this act of righteousness for us. We pray you, despise not our humble
prayer, and suffer not to bring to nothing, the province under your authority. because
we are supplicants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord. All health!"
Because he had a pressing matter to attend to, Solomon gave the letter to his servant,
telling him to remind him of it after 7 days. What was this matter? Even though the temple
had been built, it had not been finished, for there was a great stone, lying there in
front of the temple, the corner stone which Solomon desired to lay in the head of the
corner for the completion of the Temple. But try all they might, none of his workmen could
lift tht stone, not even when combined, and neither could any of their equipment. For
days, Solomon wondered what this could be. surely he knew this was no ordinary stone,
for it was the same stone the crest of dragons spoke of some time back, the stone which had
been brought up from the red sea by Epphipas the wind spirit of Arabia, and perhaps only
he could lift and place it at the exact spot desired by the king.
After seven days, being reminded of the letter of the King of Arabia, Solomon called his
servant and said to him: "Prepare your camel and get yourself a leather flask, and take
also this seal. Go into the land of Arabia to the place in which the evil spirit blows;
and there untie the flask, and place the ring in the mouth of the flask, and hold them towards
the blast of the spirit. When the flask is swollen and blown out, you will know that
the demon has been trapped into it. Then hastily tie up the mouth of the flask, and seal it
securely with the seal-ring, lay it carefully on the camel and bring it to me quickly. If
on the way the spirit offers you gold or silver or treasure in return for letting it go, see
that you are not persuaded. But listen to it without swearing to release it. And then
if it points out to the places where there are gold or silver, mark the places and seal
them with this seal. And proceed to bring the demon to me. Now go, and fare thee well."
The youth did as he was bidden and entered the land of the Arabians. And when the people
of that region saw him, they could not believe that he would be able to catch the spirit.But
when dawn came and the blast began, the youth stood up and laid the flask with the ring
in its mouth on the ground before the spirit's blast, and as the spirit blew the winds, it
was sucked right into the flask by the ring. Seeing the flask had swollen up, and knowing
the spirit was inside, the youth promptly tightened the mouth of the flask, and sealed
it in the name of the Lord God of Sabaôth. Thus, thedemon remained within the flask.
The youth remained in that land for three days to make Sure this spirit had been conquered,
and indeed the spirit no longer blew against that city. And all the Arabians knew that
he had safely captured the spirit.
As the youth made his way back to Jerusalem, the Arabians sent him forth with much honour and
precious gifts, praising the God of Israel. When he arrived, he at once laid the leather
flask in the middle of the Temple for the king to see. And when Solomon went into the
Temple, still distressed about the corner stone which could not be lifted, the flask
stood up and walked Seven steps towards him, and then fell on its mouth and bowed to him.
Solomon marvelled that even while shut inside the bottle the demon still had power and could
walk about. And so he bade it to stand up, and the flask stood up on its feet, all blown
out. Solomon questioned the spirit, saying: "Tell
me, who are you?" And from within, the spirit answered: "I am the jinn called Ephippas,
that is in Arabia." And Solomon said to him: "Is that your true name?" And he answered:
"It is. And wheresoever I will, I alight and set fire and blow the winds and do as I please."
Solomon said to him: "By what angel are you frustrated?" And he answered: "By the only-ruling
God, that has authority over me. It is he who is to be born of a virgin and crucified
by the Jews on a cross, He whom the angels and archangels worship. He does frustrate
me, and enfeeble me of my great strength, which has been given me by my father the devil.
And Solomon said to him: "What can you do?'' And the spirit answered: ''I am able to remove
mountains, and to overthrow the oaths of kings. I can wither Beautiful trees and make their
leaves to fall off." And Solomon said to him: "Can you raise this
great stone, and lies at the corner of the Temple?'' And the spirit answered: "Not only
can I raise this stone, O king; but also, with the help of the demon who presides over
the Red Sea, I will bring up the pillar of air, and will stand it where you wish in Jerusalem.''
So Solomon released him from the flask, and at once, the spirit girded himself up, and
lifted the stone effortlessly, and went up the stairs, with the flask tailing behind
him, and laid it down at the end of the entrance of the Temple, just where it was meant to
be. And Solomon, beholding the stone raised
aloft and placed on a foundation, said: 'Truly the Scripture is fulfilled, 'The stone which
the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.' For this is not mine to grant,
but God's, that the demon should be strong enough to lift up such a great stone and deposit
it in the place I wished."