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Critical Survey of Mythology & Folklore: Legendary Creatures

Falak

by Leila Chomski

Country/Culture: pan-Arabia, Persia, India, Asia, Northern Africa

THE LEGEND

In “The Adventures of Bulukiya,” a story from The Thousand and One Nights, Bulukiya, the son of an Israelite king discovers a book about Prophet Muhammad’s coming in the later days in his deceased father’s treasury, prompting a voyage in search of Muhammad. On one island, Bulukiya meets the serpents of hell and on another the serpent queen. In Jerusalem, a wise man, Affan, tells Bulukiya of King Solomon’s ring which can give the wearer power over all created things. Although the tomb is beyond the seven seas, they can get a magic herb from the serpent queen that will allow them to walk on water. With the ring, they will be able to access the fountain of life and Bulukiya can live until the times of Muhammad.

Bulukiya and Affan lure the serpent queen in a cage of iron using a bowl of milk and wine. She helps guide them to the herb whose juice they collect and rub on their feet. When they arrive at Solomon’s tomb, a mighty serpent appears as Affan nears the throne warning him not to come closer. Affan tries to take the ring from Solomon’s finger and is incinerated by the breath of the huge serpent that appears. The angel Gabriel saves Bulukiya from the serpent’s fiery breath.

Bulukiya continues his travels. The first island he comes to has beautiful flowers, animals, and birds. The second island he comes to has magnetic stones and he is almost attacked by a panther. The third island he comes to is full of fruit and the fourth island is a desert. The fifth island has hills made of crystal. The flowers on this island look like gold. On the sixth island Bulukiya finds trees with fruits that look like human heads and whose stems look like human hair. There are also fruits that look like birds hanging by their feet or fruits that burn like fire. On this island, mermaids come ashore with jewels from the ocean. On the seventh island, Bulukiya is about to pick an apple when the fruit forbids him from eating from the tree. The fruit explains that Bulukiya is a son of Adam and Adam broke his covenant with God not to eat from the tree. A giant sitting there named Sherahiya, tells him the island belongs to Sekher, a jinn king.

Sekher gives Bulukiya a magic horse that will take him to Berakhiya, another jinn king. Bulukiya stays with Berakhiya for two months before resuming his journey. He meets the angel Michael (Israfil in the Islamic tradition), whose role is to alternate day and night. He also meets other angels, among them, an angel who tells him that under the sea is an abyss of air. Beneath the air is fire and under the fire is a mighty serpent named, Falak, who would swallow the whole world if not for his fear of God. The angel explains that God put Hell into the Falak’s mouth to keep until the day of resurrection. After traveling a long way, Bulukiya reaches an island where he meets a young man weeping between two tombs. The two exchange stories of how they came to be where they are. Bulukiya next reaches an island where all the holy men eat every Friday. He meets the prophet El Khizr, whom he tells he wishes to go to Cairo. The prophet transports him back home where he becomes king once more.

SIGNIFICANCE

“The Adventures of Bulukiya,” taken from Arabian Nights, a collection dating to the late 1700s, has had a significant and lasting influence on Western literature and media. Snakes appear frequently throughout the story, symbolizing temptation and duality within a religious framework. Bulukiya’s spiritual journey of self-discovery takes place within these religious parameters, and the snakes he encounters reflect the inner turmoil between divine obedience and human frailty. On the island of serpents, they declare themselves as creatures of Hell but do not harm him, serving instead as a reminder of their subservience to God’s will. This dual nature—capable of both harm and restraint—mirrors the moral struggle of an individual seeking alignment with divine order. The serpents’ role underscores the importance of respecting spiritual boundaries, offering both warnings and insights along Bulukiya’s journey.

Throughout the story, Bulukiya goes on a physical journey to find God, or to gain a deeper spiritual understanding of God’s vast creation. Repeatedly, throughout this adventure, the snakes he encounters are not obstacles but enforcers of divine boundaries. The serpent in Solomon’s tomb warns him and Affan to keep away, ultimately destroying Affan for overstepping sacred limits. When Bulukiya hears the tale of Falak, the mighty serpent that restrains chaos beneath the sea, it does not serve as a personal moral warning but as a symbol of God’s cosmic restraint, illustrating the vastness of creation and the importance of submission to divine will. Rather than being definite obstacles, the snakes act when the son of Adam steps out of line, reinforcing the spiritual tension between human ambition and divine limits.

Snakes also symbolize transformation and renewal. By undergoing this journey, Bulukiya experiences a spiritual rebirth, returning home with profound new knowledge. When he returns, he does so having seen wonders he can’t even begin to describe. While he initially sought Solomon’s ring to achieve immortality, he instead attains a different kind of immortality—spiritual fulfillment—through his journey. This transformation reflects the story’s message that true triumph lies in seeking understanding and alignment with divine order, rather than material or physical gains. The snakes are a reminder that the spiritual religious journey takes place within the self. This is evidenced by the fact that Bulukiya is regarded as a hero despite not attaining the physical item he originally set out for. Instead, his triumph lies in finding internal spiritual fulfillment.

Further Reading

1 

Arabian Nights. Translated by Richard F. Burton. Book V. Cosimo, 2008.

2 

Salhi, Muhannad. “A Thousand and One Nights: Arabian Story-Telling in World Literature: 4 Corners of the World.” The Library of Congress, 26 Oct. 2017, blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2017/10/a-thousand-and-one-nights-arabian-story-telling-in-world-literature.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Chomski, Leila. "Falak." Critical Survey of Mythology & Folklore: Legendary Creatures, edited by Laura Nicosia & James F. Nicosia, Salem Press, 2025. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=CSMFCreatures_0129.
APA 7th
Chomski, L. (2025). Falak. In L. Nicosia & J. F. Nicosia (Eds.), Critical Survey of Mythology & Folklore: Legendary Creatures. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Chomski, Leila. "Falak." Edited by Laura Nicosia & James F. Nicosia. Critical Survey of Mythology & Folklore: Legendary Creatures. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2025. Accessed December 07, 2025. online.salempress.com.