Sin death and beyond

SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN
the other work connected with agriculture. The same angel instructed Eve how to perform all
manner of household duties. The historians Tabari, Masudi, Al-Athir, etc., have evidently culled
from similar sources. They tell us that when God wished to form Adam He sent first Gabriel,
then Michael, to fetch soil for that purpose. The earth, however, refused to give the soil, and
yielded only to the Angel of Death, who brought three kinds of soil, black, white, and red.
Adam's descendants, therefore, belong either to the white, the black, or the red race.
The soul of Adam had been created thousands of years previously, and at first refused to enter
the body of clay. God forced it violently through Adam's nose, which caused him to sneeze. As
it descended into his mouth, he commenced to utter the praises of God. He tried to rise; but
the soul had not yet descended into his feet. When he did stand upright, he reached from earth
up to the throne of God, and had to shade his eyes with his hand because of the brilliancy of
God's throne. His height was gradually diminished, partly as a punishment for his sin, and
partly through grieving at the death of Abel.
The Future Unveiled to Him.
Adam wished to see the generations which were to come from him. God drew them all from
out of his back; they stood in two rows—one of the righteous, the other of the sinners. When
God told Adam the span of life given to each, he was surprised to find that only a small number
of years had been allotted to David, and made him a present of forty years; of which present,
says the Mohammedan Midrash, a formal document was drawn up and signed.
When Adam was driven from paradise, he first alighted on the island of Sarandib (Ceylon).
Here his footprint (seventy ells long) is still to be seen, as is that of Abraham in Mecca. From
Ceylon Adam journeyed to the holy city in Arabia, where he built the Kaaba, having through
fasting and silence gained the partial forgiveness of God.
Another legend connects the building of the Kaaba with Abraham. When the time came for
Adam to die, he had forgotten the gift of forty years to David, and had to be reminded of it by
the Angel of Death. He is said to have been buried in the "Cave of Treasures"—a Christian,
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