"The City of Brass", also rendered as "The Brazen City", is the legend surrounding the City of Brass. The oldest references to the legend's existence are dated to the late 9th Century while the oldest known surviving copy of the legend's extended form, a manuscript kept by the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the number 3118, existed by 1718. Although versions of the "The City of Brass" can be found in many independent compilations, it is best known for its inclusion in One Thousand and One Nights, which the popular legend became part of on multiple separate occasions. It is likely that the ZER manuscript, composed around 1775, accounts for the oldest inclusion. Though lost today, ZER's contents were the basis of the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions, which both contain "The City of Brass", respectively within Volume 2 and in Volume 3, without significant differences between them. A second version of the legend made it into the Breslau edition, which combines stories found in various manuscripts mostly kept by the BNF. The version of "The City of Brass" found in Breslau's Volume 6, which was published in 1834, is copied from BNF #3118. A third version was present in a One Thousand and One Nights copy written before 1804. The original is lost but a secondary translation still exists. It was in the early 19th Century as well that yet another version of the legend was added to copies of One Hundred and One Nights.
The first post-1700 translation of "The City of Brass" into an European language was by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall as "La ville d'airain". It concerns an 1806 French translation of the 1804 One Thousand and One Nights manuscript and while both the manuscript and Von Hammer-Purgstall's translation are lost, August Ernst Zinserling's 1824 German translation of the French translation is still around. "The City of Brass" opens Volume 2 of the translation as "Die eherne Stadt". "Die eherne Stadt" was further translated into English by George Lamb in 1828, preceding the vastly more influential English translations of One Thousand and One Nights by Edward Lane, John Payne, and Richard Burton based on the Bulaq and the Calcutta II editions with the Breslau edition as backup. Lane included "The City of Brass" in Volume 3 of his translation in 1859, while Payne and Burton published their translations in the 1880s within which "The City of Brass" occupies a spot in respectively Volume 5 and Volume 6. One Hundred and One Nights was translated into French by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes in 1911 using four copies and other manuscripts kept by the BNF, relying mostly on BNF #3660. This manuscript contains "The City of Brass", which is therefore part of the translation.
In Arabic, "The City of Brass" is "Madīnat al-Nuḥās" ("مـديـنـة الـنـحـاس") or, rarely, "Madīnat al-Ṣufr" ("مـديـنـة الصُفْر"). Neither "nuḥās" nor "ṣufr" historically necessarily means "brass". They're better understood as "copper and its alloys", which is why in English the story also is occasionally referred to as "The City of Copper". The legend takes place around 700 because two of its key characters are Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Emir Musa ibn Nusayr and the legend likely is a fictionalized account of the conquest of North Africa, the Maghreb, as finalized by Musa.
At Damascus, Talib ibn Sahl tells Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan about an uncharted land to the west where bottles that Solomon used to imprison rebellious djinn in get netted up by fishermen daily. The locals tend to set them free, which makes for a spectacular sight. Wanting to see such for himself, Abd al-Malik sends Talib to Emir Musa ibn Nusayr in Egypt so that together they can fetch him some Solomonic bottles. Musa summons the elderly Sheik Abdussamad ibn Abd al-Kuddus as their guide because of his knowledge of the Maghreb. Getting lost still, the expedition finds a deserted castle made of black stone and have a look around inside. They come upon various Greek inscriptions that tell of the castle's last ruler, King Kush, whose life of earthly luxury ended when Allah had enough of his egotism. Every day, more of his court died and preparing for his own end, Kush had the inscriptions made to warn others not to repeat his mistakes. The expedition continues onwards and comes across a horseman of brass upon which is engraved the instruction to rub his hand to be directed to the City of Brass. Adjusting their course, the expedition discovers a pillar of brass keeping an ifrit captive. He tells them that he is Dahish ibn Amash, the leader of a revolt against Solomon's reign, who upon defeat was imprisoned to await the Day of Resurrection. He gives the expedition directions and they're back on their way. Last before their destination, they come upon the City of Brass. The expedition constructs a ladder to get in, but of those who climb it only Abdussamad survives the illusion-based trap atop the wall. He opens a nearby city gate to let the others in to discover that all-around the citizens have dropped dead, evidently from hunger, going about their daily lives. They make their way to the palace and enter the throne room of the dead Queen Tedmur. A nearby tablet in Greek gives permission to any visitor to take some treasures, but to leave the queen her garments. Talib wants them anyway and for that is killed by the two automata guarding the queen. The expedition leaves Talib's corpse and stocks up on treasure before continuing to and finally reaching their destination. They are warmly welcomed and given twelve bottles to return to Abd al-Malik with. The caliph is delighted while the journey has inspired Musa to hand his titles to his son and spend the rest of his life in religious devotion in Jerusalem.
In the late 9th Century references to the legend, Musa ibn Nusayr pointedly fails to enter the City of Brass. The first versions that fill in the mystery of the city suggest it to belong to the djinn. There are no gates and disconcerting noises come from inside. In Abu Hamid al-Gharnati's Tuhfat al-albab wa-nujbat al-a'yab, several men climb the city walls to see what's inside, but all jump to their evident death. One man has a rope tied around his waist so the others can pull him back if he jumps, which he does. However, his companions only get his lower half back and it's speculated that the man was torn apart when the djinn inside the city seized his upper half.
During the next 500 years, the role of the djinn was passed on to the illusionary houris as the City of Brass came to be a city of the dead instead. The presence of a once-queen may be partially inspired by Dihya al-Kahina. She was a contemporary of Abd al-Malik and Musa, a Berber leader that effectively resisted Muslim conquest but was brought down by scorched earth tactics. Meanwhile, the name and setup of the seated dead woman appear to have been copied from that of the Tadmur mentioned in Yaqut al-Hamawi's Mu'jam al-buldan from the 1220s. Sometime hereafter, the legend underwent thematical tightening to lock arms with the legend of Iram as found in Surah 89 of The Qur'an and in One Thousand and One Nights under the title "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah". The direct connection between the two stories is Kush, the king of the Black Castle in "The City of Brass" and also a descendent of Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar, who is the king of Iram. Sheddad had Iram built as paradise on Earth, but for his hubris was smited, much like Kush's egotism brings about his end. After his death, Sheddad's body was retrieved and hidden in a cavern, seated on a throne and clothed in expensive garments. This part of the story is alike to that of Mu'jam al-buldan's Tadmur, and the both of them may have influenced Queen Tedmur's post-mortem setup.
Other than the legend of Iram, "The City of Brass", as part of an extensive folkloric tradition, shares traits with several more stories. A horseman of brass also features in "The Third Kalandar's Tale", although there it is a sign of danger rather than a fancy guidepost. The notion of a city in which the sinful residents have been left as husks plays a role in "The Eldest Lady's Tale" and "Abou Mohammed the Lazy", which instead of mummified people speaks of people turned into statues. And "The Fisherman and the Jinni" tells of the fate of a Solomonic bottle that ended up somewhere other than the Sea of Karkar. Most of the aforementioned tales are core stories of One Thousand and One Nights.
"The City of Brass" provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Are Equal in Death: While Allah's judgement is part of the equation, most of the legend's aesop concerns itself with death as something that comes for all. The theme is especially present in the Black Castle, of which the king before his own death asked his army if they could go to war with death and if all his wealth could buy him more time on earth. When the army denied the possibility of either option, the king accepted and made preparations for his passing instead.
- Ambiguously Related: King Kush and Queen Tedmur both were rulers of settlements of Greek origin. The both of them are divinely ended for caring more for earthly adornments than their spiritual growth. Kush is always identified as a descendant, be that son, grandson (through Kanan), or even great-grandson (through Kanan ibn Shirwan) of King Sheddad, who suffered a similar fate after building paradise on earth. Tedmur is not directly linked to Sheddad most of the time, but she is always the daughter of a king of the Amalekites and there is a legend that the Amalekites descend from Sheddad. The version of "The City of Brass" in BNF #3668 has an explicit connection in that the queen there is called Ramkiyah ibnat Amalaq ibn Kanan ibn Ad ibn Sheddad ibn Ad al-Akbar.
- Ambiguous Situation: Not a version explains why Dahish told Solomon about al-Aziz's daughter. Was he made to do so or did he mean to manipulate the two kings into a war with the expectation that his own side would emerge victorious?
- Apocalyptic Log: Both the people of the Black Castle and of the City of Brass knew they were going to die and their ruler had tablets with messages to future visitors set up. The tablets are all inside the Black Castle, but in case of the City of Brass, most tablets are set up on a hill nearby the city. This is because the city was sealed off and anyone looking to get in would likely climb the mountain for survey first. The final two tablets are fastened to the inner door into the palace and placed in the throne room. In both settlements, most of the tablets contain admonishments and warnings that in the face of death all is naught, but there are also those that explain what happened that no one alive resides there anymore.
- Artistic License – History:
- The poet al-Nabighah al-Dhubiyani, who died around 604, is depicted as a contemporary of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and Emir Musa ibn Nusayr, who weren't even born until the 640s.
- The historical Emir Musa ibn Nusayr's life ended in disgrace and poverty when Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik came to power and rigorously renovated the Umayyad Caliphate's military staff. Musa died shortly after while on Hajj. By contrast, the fictional Emir Musa ibn Nusayr voluntarily gives up his titles during Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan's time to spend the rest of his life in prayer in Jerusalem.
- Musa leaves his son in charge as emir when he goes on the expedition. In Von Hammer's version, it is the caliph's brother, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, who has his son Harun take over Musa's duties. Both historical figures had sons, but none were named Harun.
- Badass Boast: After deciding that he's not going to surrender to Solomon, al-Aziz sends him back the message that Solomon better girdle up for war, because if Solomon would not decide not to come for him, al-Aziz will instead come for him.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: In the Tuhfat al-albab wa-nujbat al-a'yab version of the legend, in which some adventures are had after visiting the City of Brass instead of before, the expedition comes across a statue in a meadow that through a written text warns that there's nothing but doom behind it. There's nothing but a pleasant landscape behind the statue, so Emir Musa sends a few soldiers out to check. They get devoured by giant ants that spring up out of nowhere but which demonstrably cannot pass the border marked by the statue.
- Blow You Away: Solomon is said to have been the master of many things, including the wind. He uses it to lift up a carpet he's seated on as his mode of transportation.
- City of Gold: The Black Castle once was a place of fabulous wealth and it still stands as a testament to that, but it's the City of Brass that due to its population having died on the spot instead of having been put away in coffins truly shows what once was. Additionally, the city perished from a famine brought on by years of drought, but nature has restored itself since then, so the city's true paradisiacal splendor is only marred by the mummified corpses all-around. As a bold show of wealth, which is where the City of Brass owes its title to, parts of the city are cast or covered in brass kept pristine. Depending on the version, sometimes the entire city is cast in brass, sometimes only the roofs, and sometimes two towers with domes covered or cast in brass kept pristine rise above the city's black stone walls, giving the appearance of two eternal candles.
- Co-Dragons: The King of Jinn, al-Dimiryat, and the King of Men, Asaf bin Barkhiya, serve as Solomon's wazirs and are lower in rank only to the prophet himself. As defenders of Islam, they're the good guys, but they're very intimidating good guys.
- Cool Old Guy: Although he is the last named character to join the expedition on their journey through the Maghreb and the only one past his prime years, Abdussamad could've just as well made the trek alone because there's little contribution from anyone other than him. He is the one who guides the expedition, as he's the only one who made similar journeys before or was taught about the region by preceding travellers. It is he alone who can read the Ancient Greek inscriptions in the Black Castle and in the City of Brass. It is he whom Musa, too afraid to do it himself, shoves forward to talk with the ifrit Dahish. And again it's Abdussamad who, after several previous attempts led to the death of the volunteers, climbs upon the walls of the City of Brass and survives the trap laid there. He thereby also is the one who figures out how to open the gate to let his companions inside.
- Crazy-Prepared: The City of Brass is built so that the city gates aren't visible from the outside and cannot be opened from the outside. Climbing the walls is possible, but there is a security system active to meet invaders. Once the citizens realized that they would starve to death, they locked themselves in and went about their daily lives until death overtook them. They knew it would not be easy to disturb their tomb and rightfully predicted that anyone who would try would climb a nearby hill to survey the city from up high. Therefore, they had several tablets installed on the hilltop carrying theophilosophic messages for future visitors. Musa, Talib, and Abdussamad find these tablets as they look for a way into the City of Brass.
- Dead Guy on Display:
- Queen Tedmur has let herself be embalmed and the corpse dressed in her finest clothes to be placed upon her throne to last as long as the procedure protects her from the ravages of time. She sits there next to a slab that welcomes visitors, gives them permission to take some of the castle's treasures, and warns them not to ever let materialism eat away at spirituality.
- In Von Hammer's version, the two guards that protect Tedmur's corpse are themselves embalmed corpses turned into automata. They're brass in most other versions.
- In BNF #3668, an 18th Century manuscript, once inside the City of Brass the expedition first comes across a dead king on his throne before they come across a dead queen on her throne.
- Death by Adaptation: In older versions of "The City of Brass" with a less consolidated aesop, Talib does not die and sometimes doesn't even go along on the expedition.
- Decomposite Character: In manuscript #04576 of the National Library of Tunisia, it isn't Musa who goes along on the expedition. Rather, when he gets his instructions from Talib, he sends the expedition onwards to an unnamed King of the West who then sends his equally unnamed son along with the expedition. This son fulfills the role Musa normally fulfills while the Musa in this manuscript stays home.
- Died Standing Up: The population of the City of Brass succumbed to hunger as they went about their daily lives. Depending on the version, they either have slumped a little in death but are still mostly upright or they've fully maintained the poses of their last moments alive past death.
- Dirty Coward: The men of the people living at the Sea of Karkar run when Emir Musa and his entourage arrive, leaving the women and the children to fend for themselves would the arrivals turn out to be hostile.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Anyone who gets up on the walls of the City of Brass from outside is met with a vision of ten or twelve houris that beckon the invader to them. Very few can resist their loveliness, but as the houris stand quite a way from the city walls, walking to them means walking off the walls to fall to one's death inside the city. Depending on the version, Abdussamad is the only one to survive either because he had a rope tied around his middle by which his companions could pull him back up or because he committed himself fully to prayer until the houris went away.
- Dramatic Irony: When they've climbed the hill nearby the City of Brass to survey what's behind the city walls, Musa, Talib, and Abdussamad observe a grand city with running streams and orchards rich with fruit and flowers. What they will learn soon is that long ago the entire city perished from famine caused by a seven-year drought. The city is still filled with nothing but corpses, but the drought has since ended and nature taken its course as if never there was a reason for the citizens to die.
- Dual Boss: The automaton guards of Queen Tedmur kill Talib jointly. One of them uses his club to smack him in the back and make Talib fall over, after which the other decapitates the thief with his sword.
- Dwindling Party: Whereas Queen Tedmur's people died all at once, King Kush's court died over several days. Kush had messages prepared for future visitors when he realized he too would end up joining the deaths.
- Face Death with Dignity:
- It's not given how the people of the Black Castle dealt with the prospect of their impending deaths, but the king, in any case, eventually accepted his end and focused his last days on what he wanted to leave behind for future visitors.
- Once the people of the City of Brass realize death by starvation is all that awaits them, they lock up their city and go about their daily business until the end. The scenery that greets Abdussamad and the others when they make their way inside is eerily peaceful.
- The Famine:
- Most versions don't give a cause of death for the court of the Black Castle beyond divine will, but one version has King Kush ask if his wealth can buy him food when usually he asks if it can buy him life. This sounds like hunger took down the Black Castle.
- The City of Brass was once a wealthy and thriving settlement until for seven years in a row drought ruined the harvest. With all the animals already eaten, the citizens tried to exchange their wealth for food in neighboring settlements, but they couldn't miss what little they had. The citizens eventually accepted their fate, closed their city's gates, and went about their daily lives until they collapsed.
- Foil: The two men at the head of the journey to retrieve the Solomonic bottles for the caliph are Talib ibn Sahl, who told the caliph about the bottles in the first place, and Musa ibn Nusayr, the caliph's emir in the Maghreb. Both men see the same sights and receive the same warnings not to let earthly adornments distract from decency and from Allah, but whereas Musa takes them to heart, Talib is hardly affected. On the offer of Queen Tedmur for the visitors to take whatever they want except for her garments, Talib insists they're too good for a dead woman and readies to take them. He is killed by two automatons for his vulgar greed. Musa has no pity for him and leaves Talib's body where it fell. Once the journey is at an end some years later, Musa himself, a changed man, hands his titles and wealth to his son and moves to Jerusalem to dedicate the rest of his life to religious contemplation.
- Freeing the Genie: The people at the Sea of Karkar are used to fishing up bottles in which Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn. Every time they open the bottles and every time the djinn come out begging forgiveness before disappearing. Caliph Abd al-Malik hears of this and sends out an expedition to retrieve some bottles so he may experience freeing some djinn himself.
- Genie in a Bottle: During his rule, Solomon would punish disobedient djinn by imprisoning them solitarily in brass bottles that he'd seal with lead and a stamp of his signet ring. He would then throw the bottles into the sea to let fate decide when or if the djinn would ever be free again. Dahish, a particular troublesome ifrit, was instead incarcerated in a pillar in the middle of the desert. Dahish cannot be freed by mere humans, while the djinn in bottles have largely ended up in the Sea of Karkar where the locals regular net them up. They tend to free them, because they might as well and the djinn have proven to be full of regret and harmless.
- Ghost City: Both the court of the Black Castle and the population of the City of Brass have long ago been wiped out by divine degree for their commitment to earthly wealth. But the castle and the city still stand as if life left it only shortly ago. In the castle, the dead are neatly arranged in a total of four hundred coffins, while in the city the people perished from hunger as they went about their days and the dry climate mummified them. The exception is Queen Tedmur and, depending on the version, the guards at her side. Those three are artificially preserved and the guards turned into automata.
- Going to See the Elephant: The entire reason that some two thousand men go risk their lives traversing North Africa from one end to the other for years is because Caliph Abd al-Malik fancies to open some bottles Solomon imprisoned djinn in and to behold the repenting creatures for himself.
- The High Queen: On the tablet left at her feet, Queen Tedmur describes herself as a righteous ruler, a keeper of justice, generous, and one who set slaves free. Because she and her entire city are dead from starvation, it is a claim without demonstration, but its truthfulness is attested from the resigned manner in which the citizens welcomed death as well as from the grand display made out of Tedmur herself by a last survivor. She's been embalmed so that her beauty in life has ever since persisted on her lifeless form, she's been dressed in her finest garments, and she's been seated on her throne to welcome future visitors by means of the tablet and guarded by two automatons. When the expedition enters Tedmur's throne room, at least Musa mistakes her for being alive and greets her before being corrected.
- Hologram: No text explains what the houris that float above the City of Brass just past the city walls exactly are. Considering that they keep the city safe from invaders by coaxing anyone who climbs on top of the wall to fall to their deaths inside the city, they are most likely not real houris. This is further made likely by the fact that some versions hold that the area between city wall and the houris looks like water to anyone under their effect and thus like it can be swum across. If someone manages to resist the houris' lure, as Abdussamad accomplishes by prayer and by having twelve men perish before him, the houris fade away, meaning they're not anything physical. They therefore are most likely an intentional projection that is part of the city's security system.
- Hypocrite: Musa doesn't do a whole lot to make the expedition a success, but usually it's because he can't do anything while the more experienced Abdussamad does know how to handle things. But when the group encounters Dahish, Musa explicitly shoves Abdussamad into speaking with the fearsome ifrit. Musa is too frightened to do it himself, yet assures Abdussamad that he is safe because the ifrit is chained down.
- I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy: Abdussamad gives Musa's son Harun, who will take over his father's duties during his absence, a much shorter timeframe for the journey he and Musa will go on than what he knows it will actually take. Implicitly, he does this so Harun will view the task as smaller than it is and get going with it more easily.
- And I Must Scream: If a djinni did not obey Solomon, his go-to choice of punishment was to solitarily seal them in a brass bottle with lead, stamp the lead with his signet ring, and then cast the bottle into the sea. Djinn have a high lifespan bordering on immortality, which potentially means an eternity of captivity. The ifrit Dahish, who led a rebellion, was instead locked in or against a brass pillar in the middle of nowhere. While any human can free a djinni from a bottle, it isn't humanly possible to free Dahish from his particular prison.
- Magic Carpet: In the long-gone past, Solomon went to war seated on a flying carpet. The carpet itself is not specifically noted to be magical, but Solomon does say that the wind obeys him as per Allah's will. Therefore, the carpet likely is ordinary and it is Solomon's control of the wind that moves it.
- Manly Tears: Emir Musa has only one response every time he reads one of the warnings and admonitions left behind by the dead, and that response is to cry. Sometimes to the point of fainting. Because Musa is the character who learns the lesson that the audience is supposed to learn, this is the appropriate response.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The once fearsome ifrit Dahish has two humanoid arms, two bestial paws, and two avian wings. Regardless of whether Solomon had him imprisoned inside the pillar or chained to it, these six limbs of his are well-visible from afar and signal that Dahish is dangerous, while the imprisonment of such a monster speaks of Solomon's might.
- Named by the Adaptation: In almost all versions of "The City of Brass", the island king against whom Solomon waged war goes unnamed. But in at least one, which was incorporated in Gaudefroy-Demombynes's translation of One Hundred and One Nights, the king is named al-Aziz ibn Marrah.
- No Entrance: In early versions of "The City of Brass", the city isn't one where humans dwell and therefore there are no city gates. In later versions, there are city gates, up to twenty-five, and it is obvious where they are supposed to be. However, from the outside, the gates themselves aren't discernible.
- Off with His Head!: For trying to take the clothes off the dead queen of the City of Brass, her automaton guards decapitate Talib.
- Omniglot: The elderly and well-travelled Abdussamad is said to be very learned and versed in many tongues. This is useful in the Black Castle and in the City of Brass because various instructions and warnings are written in an old form of Greek, hinted to be close to the language spoken by Alexander the Great.
- Only in It for the Money: In most manuscripts, Talib is a wazir who just so happens to know about a place to the West where the Solomonic bottles can be found and who takes an interest in going on the journey himself for no clear reason, though possibly to earn the caliph's favor. In the Breslau edition, he is explicitly a treasure seeker in the possession of many books on lost riches just waiting to be found. Within this context, the fact that he immediately can present a plan of action to the caliph on how to retrieve some of these bottles suggests that he was angling to get the caliph's backing in launching an expedition. Talib's lust for treasure catches up with him when he ignores Queen Tedmur's instruction to take whatever one likes from her palace but to not touch her garments. He does so anyway because they are some of the finest treasures lying around and gets killed by the two automaton guards at the queen's side.
- Our Angels Are Different: Dahish relays that there's an angel guarding his prison to ensure that no one will try to free the ifrit until Allah gives permission.
- Our Genies Are Different: Jinns, ifrits, marids, and shaytans are all mentioned as djinn that Solomon used to command or imprison in brass bottles if they rebelled against his absolute rule. When Solomon went to war against al-Aziz, he had the King of Jinn, al-Dimiryat, fighting on his behalf while al-Aziz was supported by the ifrit Dahish, a being with two humanoid arms, two bestial paws, and two avian wings. Al-Aziz's army lost and Dahish himself was imprisoned in a pillar to await whenever Allah would deign to return him his freedom. While on their way to retrieve some of the jinn-imprisoning brass battles from a land to the West, Musa's expedition comes across Dahish, who regrets his past actions and both relays his story and gives the expedition directions to the City of Brass.
- Reclaimed by Nature: The City of Brass still stands as if it's population left only shortly ago, but its rivers and basins are filled with water, its orchards bear fruit and flowers, and birds fly about. A long time ago, the citizens perished after seven years of drought, which in turn caused the orchards to whither and all animals in the city to be put to use as food.
- Related in the Adaptation: It depends on the manuscript whether Talib and Abdussamad embark on the same journeys their respective grandfathers made or if they've got their geographical knowledge from the stories of people unrelated to them.
- The Rival: Once the war between Solomon and al-Aziz is on, Dahish, the jinn general fighting for al-Aziz, targets al-Dimiryat, the King of Jinn fighting on Solomon's behalf. The two at first seem equal in power, but eventually Dahish has to flee. Al-Dimiryat pursues him for three months before he can catch up and return him to Solomon for judgement.
- Sacred Hospitality: By means of a message on a tablet, the dead Queen Tedmur explains to any visitors to her city what caused the entire population to perish. She warns the visitors against greed but, as her people no longer have use for it, she also gives permission for the visitors to take some of the remaining riches with them. The only thing she asks is that her burial clothes, which are some of the most valuable items to be found in the city, are left to her. Talib goes to take them anyway and for this insolence gets killed by the two automaton guards flanking the queen.
- Shameful Strip: Queen Tedmur chose to be embalmed and put on display on her throne dressed in her finest clothes. The tablet at her feet gives any visitor permission to take whatever they desire in her palace except for her garments, because those are the one possession she still uses. However, Tedmur's clothes are some of the most valuable treasures around and therefore Talib wants them. Depending on the version, he's in particular interested in her belt studded with huge diamonds or her headdress fully covered in pearls. He is called out on it by the others, but argues that dead women have even less right than living women to protect their modesty with more than rags. When he grasps for the garments, though, the automaton guards flanking the throne spring into action and kill Talib.
- Shoot the Messenger: Once King al-Aziz chooses to wage war against Solomon, he grievously beats Solomon's messenger to make his refusal to surrender that much more clear.
- Sundial Waypoint: Although not used to indicate any point of interest, in some versions, the room in which Caliph Abd al-Malik speaks with his court about Solomon is a round structure with windows for each day of the year. Only once per year does the sun shine directly through a given window.
- Tear-Apart Tug-of-War: In the Tuhfat al-albab wa-nujbat al-a'yab version of the legend, several men climb the walls of the City of Brass only to seemingly jump to their deaths on the other side. The next one to try his luck ties a rope around his waist so that his companions can pull him back if he too jumps. He does but when his companions pull him back, only his lower actually comes back. The survivors speculate that the city is home to djinn and that they seized the man by the torso and thus both groups efforts tore him in two.
- Temple of Doom: The security system of the City of Brass is still active, though the expedition encounters only two dangers. The first is the illusion of the houris atop the city walls, which beckon all men climbing up on the walls to come to them. If a man takes the bait, he falls off the wall into the city to his death. The second are the automaton guards flanking Queen Tedmur's corpse and throne. Would someone move to touch the queen or take her garments, the otherwise motionless constructions move to kill.
- Unknown Character: All of the inhabitants of the City of Brass are natural mummies, even if perhaps magically preserved. But Queen Tedmur is explicitly an artificial mummy, having been embalmed and having had her eyes treated with quicksilver. The scenery in the city implies that everyone perished of hunger around the same time, so who embalmed Tedmur with such remarkable skill and set her up on her throne to welcome future visitors?
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Many of the bottles Solomon imprisoned rebellious djinn in have ended up in the Sea of Karkar. The people living there fish them up very regularly and free the djinn, being greeted with the same sight always of a humongous creature floating out that begs forgiveness from the long-gone prophet before disappearing. They know what they're dealing with and that the djinn are harmless, so it's barely worth a shrug to them while to anyone else it's well above remarkable.
- Useless Protagonist: The audience is supposed to care more about the lesson Musa learns than the adventure he partakes in. Therefore, despite being the leader of the expedition and the character whose reactions are a point of focus, Emir Musa ibn Nusayr never does anything to bring about success. It's by and large Sheik Abdussamad who provides solutions, but as per their roles, Abdussamad is not changed by the adventure while Musa returns home with a new outlook on what matters in life.
- "What's Inside?" Plot: No matter the version, the core of the legend has always been the mystery of what's inside the walls of the City of Brass. In the earliest versions, Emir Musa and his entourage fail to get inside and it remains a mystery. In the versions following thereafter it too remains a mystery, but it's hinted that it's a djinni city. In the later versions with an aesop to relay, the city holds the long-dead remains of its population after wealth could not protect them from famine.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: According to Dahish, King al-Aziz's daughter was the fairest woman of her day, as she excelled in all of beauty, loveliness, elegance, and grace. Word of this reached Solomon, who demanded her as his wife from al-Aziz and that the other king converted to Islam. Al-Aziz refused, which provoked Solomon into going to war against him.
