Now Assad rises superior to his grosser nature and drives the temptress away, thus performing the saving act demanded by Solomon.
Herr Mosenthal, who made the libretto of "Die Konigin von Saba," treated this material, not with great poetic skill, but with a cunning appreciation of the opportunities which it offers for dramatic effect.
The opera opens with a gorgeous picture of the interior of Solomon's palace, decked in honor of the coming guest.

There is an air of joyous expectancy over everything.

Sulamith's entrance introduces the element of female charm to brighten the brilliancy of the picture, and her bridal song--in which the refrain is an excerpt from the Canticles, "Thy beloved is thine, who feeds among the roses"-- enables the composer to indulge his strong predilection and fecund gift for Oriental melody.
The action hurries to a thrilling climax.

One glittering pageant treads on the heels of another, each more gorgeous and resplendent than the last, until the stage, set to represent a fantastical hall with a bewildering vista of carved columns, golden lions, and rich draperies, is filled with such a kaleidoscopic mass of colors and groupings as only an Oriental mind could conceive.

Finally all the preceding strokes are eclipsed by the coming of the Queen.