Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/30

6 on the surface of the earth should be formed into seven concentric seas, separated from each other by as many continents, but nevertheless connected by divers gulfs and straits, and containing an infinite number and diversity of living creatures, as well as of the nourishment that sustains them. The seven continents likewise vary in their climates and conditions, as in the plants and animals that abound therein. It took Allah two further days to set these things in order.

Now the earth used to rock and roll like a ship at sea, so that all living creatures were very sick. Therefore Allah commanded a strong angel to go beneath the earth and support it. The angel did so, and stretching one arm towards the east, and the other towards the west, he upheld the world. Then, in order that the angel might have something to stand on, Allah created a great rock of green emerald, which He commanded to roll in beneath his feet and support them. Then, as there was nothing for the rock to rest upon, a great bull was created, and ordered to go under the rock and bear it up; some say on his horns, and others on his back. Those who make the former statement explain earthquakes as caused by the movement of the bull’s head when he shifts the rock from one horn to the other. He has eyes so fiery red that no one can look in them without blindness. He is named Behemoth, and stands on the back of a great whale, which swims about in an ocean which Allah created for the purpose. Beneath the ocean, and surrounding it and the world, is air, which rests upon