The First Tale of the Moon of Saba

An intrusive scribe pauses the main narrative to present the first tale of the Moon of Saba, warning that its history branches into countless versions. The scribe focuses on a popular coastal account tied to Amina’s old hunting grounds.

The story centers on Queen Bilqis of Saba and the Prophet Suleiman. While many tellings pair them in marriage, the scribe favors versions where they part amicably and Bilqis returns to rule Yemen with djinn companions, building palaces and libraries.

During the moon’s passage through the manzil al-Dabaran, an aspect of the moon falls in love with Bilqis, manifesting as a celestial pearl. Delighted, Bilqis sets the pearl—the Moon of Saba—into her crown and keeps its counsel, despite al-Dabaran’s ominous associations with strife and discord.

After Bilqis’s death, the pearl’s fate fractures into legend: recovered by the moon in a colossal tide, stolen by Alexander, lost by a fairy into the sea to become an island, or swallowed—with its thieves—by a bone-faced sea dragon. Sailors, pirates, and princes across distant shores all claim competing versions.

The scribe suggests these contradictions might be intentional, seeded by those skilled in hiding dangerous magic so the Moon of Saba would seem absurd and remain unfound by the greedy. Concluding the digression, the scribe returns to the present, noting that Amina, already entangled, is now determined to seek answers.