In his famous novel “The Bridge on the Drina”, Ivo Andric recalls the story about the first bridge and this bridge.
“How the bridge came to this world and how the first bridge was even created? When Allah s.w.t. created this world, the earth was flat and smooth as the nicest casserole. However, Satan envied man on this divine gift. And while the earth was still as it came under the hand of God, wet and soft as unbaked pot, devil scratched the face of God’s earth, as deep as he could. That is how, as the story says, were created deep rivers and ravines that separated an end from an end and people from each other and bothered them to travel around the earth that God gave them as the garden for their food and livelihoods. When the God saw what happened, and since He could not go back to work that Satan defiled with his hand, he sent his angels to help the people. When the angels saw how poor people cannot cross those ravines and depths and cannot do their work, but they were struggling in vain and shouting from one coast to the other, they spread their wings above those ravines, and the people started crossing rivers over their wings. That is how people learned from God’s angels how to build a bridge. Because of that, the largest good deed, after the fountain, is to build a bridge and the greatest sin is to destroy one, because each bridge, from the one over a mountain stream to this Mehmed Pasha’s buildings, has its angels that are guarding it until the time the God destined for it to stand.”
(Source: bhtourism.ba)
