The founding of Alexandria. Many scholars report that Alexander the Macedonian, having established his kingdom in the region, began to choose soils with a healthy climate, fertile and with good irrigation. Arriving at the site of Alexandria, he found traces of a huge building, with a large number of marble columns. In the center of it all rose a huge column written in the script of the Himyarites of Yemen – that is, in the most primitive of all the Himyarite scripts and the kings of Aad:
“I am Sadad bin Aad bin Sadad bin Aad. With my hands I protected the earth, I made great pillars in the mountains and the mines, and I built the city of Irem with the pillars, the like of which there is none. I wanted to build a city like Irem with the pillars and gather there all noble and generous people from all tribes and nations, as that city would be free from calamities and miseries, from cares and diseases. But I happened to meet him who induced me to hastily abandon my plan, by raising obstacles which caused me shocks and anxieties, sleeplessness and agitation. So I left my home in safety, not because I yielded before a mighty king or fell before a numerous army, nor from panic or servitude, but because my life was drawing to an end, and all must be submitted to His power. Whoever sees these remains, whoever learns my history, my long existence, the certainty of my opinions, the strictness of my prudence, do not, after me, allow fortune to mislead him.
Alexander paused anxiously to read these words and to appreciate them, then he gathered workmen from the various regions and laid the foundations, which extended several miles in length and breadth. He brought pillars and marble. His ships brought various kinds of marble, alabaster, and stone from Sicily, Ifricia, Crete, and the edge of the sea of the Romans (the Mediterranean), the sea that juts out from the ocean. But they also brought them from the island of Rhodes, an island opposite Alexandria and at a distance of one night's navigation, which is the first land of the Franks. But in our time, in the year 332 of Egira, it became the shipyard where the Romans build their warships. Many Romans live on the island and their fleet sails the sea to Alexandria and other cities of Egypt, where they raid and capture people, who then sell them for slaves.
Alexander ordered the workers and craftsmen to be stationed along the base of the city walls. A ramp was fixed to each piece of land and one was tied with ropes to the other, and all together ended at the marble pillars in front of the king's tent. Alexander ordered a beautifully ringing bell to be hung on the top of the pole and then ordered the workmen and guards, as soon as the bell began to ring and they heard it, when the ropes on the ends of which he had hung smaller bells began to swing , then let the workers simultaneously lay the foundations of the city along the entire length of its walls. Alexander thus intended to complete the work, choosing the time according to a lucky horoscope.
One day, while he was waiting for the right time to observe the horoscope, his head felt heavy and he fell asleep. A black crow sat on the bell rope of the great post and made it ring. The strings shook and all the little bells started ringing, because of a function based on science and the laws of engineering. When the workmen saw the ropes swinging and heard the sounds, they all laid the foundations at the same time, and their praises and thanksgivings rose to the air.
Alexander woke up and heard the voices. He then asked what happened and was informed. So he marveled and said: “I wanted something and God wanted something else. That is why He rejected everything that was contrary to His will. I wanted to ensure the survival of this city, but God wanted the city to be in danger and disappear soon, since it will first belong to two kings who will succeed each other."
While the foundation of Alexandria had begun and the foundations were being laid, genies came out of the bottom of the sea while it was night and destroyed all the buildings. Alexander said at dawn: "This is the beginning of her decline, and already God's plans for her destruction are being verified."
Al Masoudi – The Greeks through the eyes of the Arabs – Daedaleos Publications