Suleiman

Suleiman is the Arabic form of Solomon, the Hebrew Shlomo, rooted in shalom, peace. It carries the double inheritance of biblical wisdom and Islamic kingship: the prophet-king of the Quran and Torah, and Süleyman the Magnificent, the sixteenth-century Ottoman sultan under whom Constantinople became a stage of tile work, law, and poetry. Three syllables that unspool with a slight sway, softer in the Turkish Süleyman, firmer in classical Arabic. It has never been common in English-speaking countries, preserving its architectural grandeur. Suleiman is a name built like a domed library, airy inside, imposing from the street.