Page:Legends of Old Testament Characters.djvu/168

146 Then the king cried aloud, "Abraham, servant of the God of Heaven, come forth from the furnace to me."

And Abraham came forth. Then the king said to him, "How is it that thou art not consumed?" And Abraham answered, "The Lord God of Heaven and Earth, whom I serve, hath delivered me."

Instantly the flames were extinguished, and the wood burst forth into flower and fruit; and the pile was like a grove of flowering shrubs to look upon, and Angels descended and took Abraham and seated him in the midst. The Arabic version of this part of the story is something different. Nimrod could not see into the fire, so he ascended a high tower in his palace, and from the top looked down into the furnace, and saw that in the midst was a garden with flowers and a fountain of sparkling water, and Abraham seated on the grass beside the spring, conversing with an angel.

Nimrod now loaded Abraham with presents, amongst which were two slaves named Oni and Eliezer; according to some, the latter was a son of the tyrant. Many followed Abraham home, and brought their children to him and said, "Now we see that the God in whom thou trustest, is the only true God; teach our children the truth, that they may serve Him in righteousness." Thus three hundred persons accompanied Abraham home, most of whom were servants of the king, and of noble race. Here follows in the Mussulman account the story of Nimrod's attempt to reach heaven in a box, to which were attached four vultures. His object was, says Tabari, to kill the God of Abraham. He went up along with his vizir. After a night and day in the air, the king said to his vizir, "Open the window of the box towards the earth and tell me what you see." He did so, and replied, "I see the earth." After another day and night, he again looked out and saw the earth still; on the third day, at the king's command he looked out and saw nothing. Then said Nimrod, "Open the window towards heaven and look out." He did so and saw nothing. Then Nimrod shot three arrows into the sky, and they fell back with blood on them. So Nimrod said, "I have killed the God of Abraham." But whence the blood came is unsettled. Some say that the