T¥fifl]i2^ 1920 ^^^osmnv^ L'lvision ij \ Section O s^aOi/ K O R A N, COMIIONLV CALLED THE ALCORAN OF MOHAMMED LONDON : n BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITFFIIIABS. THE KORAN, COMMONLY CALLED THE ALCORAN OF MOHAMMED, TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH IMMEDIATELY FROM THE ORIGINAL ARABIC; EXPLANATORY NOTES, TAKEN PROM THE MOST APPROVED COMMENTATORS. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. BY GEORGE SALE, GENT. Nulla falsa doctrina est, quse non aliquid veri perinisceat. AUGUSTIN. QUiEST. EVANG. 1. 2, C. 40. A NEW EDITION, WITH A MEMOIR OF THE TRANSLATOR, AND WITH VARIOUS READINGS AND ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES FROM SAVARY's version of the KORAN. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE ; R. MILLIKEN, DUBLIN ; GRIFFIN AND CO. GLASGOW ; AND M. BAUDRY, PARIS. 1825. EIGHT HONOURABLE JOHN LORD CARTERET, ONE OF THE LORDS OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL. MY LORD, Notwithstanding the great honour and re- spect generally, and deservedly, paid to the meinories of those who have founded states, or obliged a people by the institution of laws which have made them prosperous and considerable in the world, yet the legislator of the Arabs has been treated in so very different a manner by all who acknowledge not his claim to a divine mission, and by Christians especially, that were not your Lordship's just discernment sufficiently known, I should think myself under a necessity of making an apology for presenting the follow- ing translation. VI DEDICATION. The remembrance of the calamities brought on so many nations by the conquests of the Arabians may possibly raise some indignation against him who formed them to empire ; but this being equally applicable to all conquerors, could not, of itself, occasion all the detestation with which the name of Mohammed is loaded. He has given a new system of religion, which has had still greater success than the arms of his followers, and to establish this religion made use of an imposture ; and on this account it is supposed that he must of necessity have been a most abandoned villain, and his memory is be- come infamous. But as Mohammed gave his Arabs the best religion he could, as well as the best laws, preferable, at least, to those of the ancient pagan lawgivers, I confess I cannot see why he deserves not equal respect, though not with Moses or Jesus Christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet with IVIinos or Numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a neze) religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true God, and to destroy idolatry, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established. DEDICATION. Vll To be acquainted with the various laws and constitutions of civilized nations, especially of those who flourish in our own time, is, perhaps, the most useful part of knowledge; wherein though your Lordship, who shines with so much distinction in the noblest assembly in the world, peculiarly excels ; yet as the law of Mohammed, by reason of the odium it lies under, and the strangeness of the language in which it is written, has been so much neglected, I flatter myself some things in the following sheets may be new even to a person of your Lordship's extensive learn- ing ; and if what I have written may be any way entertaining or acceptable to your Lordship, I shall not regret the pains it has cost me, I join with the general voice in wishing your Lordship all the honour and happiness your known virtues and merit deserve, and am with perfect respect. My Lord, Your Lordship's most humble And most obedient servant, GEORGE SALE. TO THE READER. I IMAGINE it almost needless either to make an apo- logy for publishing the following translation, or to go about to prove it a work of use as well as curiosity. They must have a mean opinion of the Christian reli- gion, or be but ill grounded therein, who can appre- hend any danger from so manifest a forgery : and if the religious and civil institutions of foreign nations are worth our knowledge, those of Mohammed, the lawgiver of the Ai-abians, and founder of an empire which in less than a century spread itself over a greater part of the world than the Romans were ever masters of, must needs be so ; whether we consider their ex- tensive obtaining, or our frequent intercourse with those who are governed thereby. I shall not here in- quire into the reasons why the law of Mohammed has met with so unexampled a reception in the world (for they are greatly deceived who imagine it to have been propagated by the sword alone), or by what means it came to be embraced by nations which never felt the force of the Mohammedan arms, and even by those which stripped the Arabians of their conquests, and put an end to the sovereignty and very being of their Khalifs : yet it seems as if there was something more than what is vulgarly imagined, in a religion which X TO THE READER. has made so surprising a progress. But whatever use an impartial version of the Koran may be of in other respects, it is absokitely necessary to undeceive those who, from the ignorant or unfair translations which have appeared, have entertained too favourable an opi- nion of the original, and also to enable us effectually to expose the imposture ; none of those who have hitherto undertaken that province, not excepting Dr. Prideaux himself, having succeeded to the satisfaction of the ju- dicious, for want of being complete masters of the con- troversy. The ^vl•iters of the Romish communion, in particular, are so far from having done any service in their refutations of Mohammcdism, that by endeavour- ing to defend their idolatry and other superstitions, they have rather contributed to the increase of that aversion which the Mohammedans in general have to the Christian religion, and given them great advan- tages in the dispute. The protestants alone are able to attack the Koran with success ; and for them, I trust. Providence has reserved the glory of its overthrow^ In the mean time, if I might presume to lay down rules to be observed by those who attempt the conversion of the IMohammedans, they should be the same which the learned and worthy bishop Kidder* has prescribed for the conversion of the Jews, and which may, mutatis mutandis, be equally applied to the former, notwith- standing the despicable opinion that wa-iter, for want of being better acquainted with them, entertained of those people, judging them scarce fit to be argued with. The first of these rules is. To avoid compulsion ; which though it be not in our power to employ at present, I hope will not be made use of when it is. The second is, To avoid teaching doctrines against common sense ; the Mohammedans not being such fools (whatever we may think of them) as to be gained over in this case. The worshipping of images and the doctrine of tran- substantiation are great stumbling blocks to the Mo- ■f 111 ills Dcinonbt. ot ilie Messias, pail III. cliaii. '_'. TO THE READER. XI hammedans, and the church which teacheth them is very unfit to bring those people over. The third is. To avoid weak arguments : for the Mohammedans are not to be converted with these, or hard words. We must use them with humanity, and dispute against them with arguments that are proper and cogent. It is certain that many Christians, who have written against them, have been very defective this way ; many have used arguments that have no force, and advanced, propositions that are void of truth. This method is so far from convincing that it rather serves to harden them. The Mohammedans will be apt to conclude we have little to say, when we urge them with arguments that are trifling or untrue. We do but lose ground when w^e do this ; and instead of gaining them, we ex- pose ourselves and our cause also. We must not give them ill words neither ; but must avoid all reproachful language, all that is sarcastical and biting : this never did good from pulpit or press. The softest words will make the deepest impression ; and if we think it a fault in them to give ill language, we cannot be excused when we imitate them. The fourth rule is. Not to quit any article of the Christian faith to gain the Mo- hammedans. It is a fond conceit of the Socinians, that we shall upon their principles be most like to prevail upon the Mohammedans : it is not true in matter of fact. We must not give up any article to gain them : but then the church of Rome ought to part with many practices and some doctrines. We are not to design to gain the Mohammedans over to a system of dogmas, but to the ancient and primitive faith. I believe no body will deny but that the rules here laid down are just : the latter part of the third, which alone my design has given me occasion to practise, I think so reasonable, that I have not, in speaking of Mohammed or his Koran, allowed myself to use those opprobrious appellations, and unmannerly expressions, which seem to be the strongest arguments of several who have written against them. On the contrary, I have thought Xll TO TIIK KEADEK. m yself obliged to treat both with conunon decency, and even to aj)prove such j)articiihirs as seemed to nie to deserve ajiprobation : for how criminal soever Moham- med may have been in imposing a false religion on mankind, the praises due to his real virtues ought not to be denied him ; nor can I do otherwise than applaud the candour of the pious and learned Spanhemius, who, though he owned him to have been a wicked impostor, yet acknowledged him to have been richly furnished with natural endowments, beautiful in his person, of a subtle wit, agreeable behaviour, showing liberality to the poor, courtesy to every one, fortitude against his enemies, and above all a high reverence for the name of God ; severe against the perjured, adulterers, mur- derers, slanderers, prodigals, covetous, false witnesses, &c. a great preacher of patience, charity, mercy, bene- ficence, gratitude, honouring of parents and superiors, and a frequent celebrator of the divine praises*. Of the several translations of the Koran now extant, there is but one wdiich tolerably represents the sense of the original ; and that being in Latin, a new ver- sion became necessary, at least to an English reader. AVhat Bibliander published for a Latin translation of that book deserves not the name of a translation ; the unaccountable lil)erties therein taken, and the number- less faults, both of omission and commission, leaving scarce any resemblance of the original. It was made near six hundred years ago, being finished in 1143, by Ilobertus Retenensis, an Englishman, with the assist- ance of Hermannus Dalmata, at the request of Peter abl)ot of Clugny, who i)aid them well for their ])ains. From this Latin version Avas taken the Italian of Andrea Arrivabene, notwithstanding the pretences in • Id ccrtum, natiiralibu'; (^cgic dotibus instructum IMuhammedeui, Ibrina prae- staiui, ingenio callido, nioribus f'acctis, ac pra> se t'crcntciii lilieralitatem in egenos, coniitatcm in singulos, tbrtitudineni in liostes, ac praj ca>tcris rcvcrfnliam divini no- jiiinis. — Severus t'uit in perjuros, adultcms, boniicidas, obtrcctalores, ))rodigos, ava- ros, t'alsos testes, ^c. iMagnus idem paticntia-, diarilatis, niiscricordias bcncficientia, gratitudinib, honoris -in parcntPs ac snpcriorcs jmpco, lit cl divinaruni laiiduni. — Ilht. Hecks. Sec. 7, f. 7, Icm. 5, it 7 . TO THE READER. Xlll his dedication of its being done immediately from the Arabic * ; wherefore it is no wonder if the transcript be yet more faulty and absurd than the copyt. About the end of the fifteenth century, Johannes Andreas, a native of Xativa in the kingdom of Valencia, who from a Mohammedan doctor became a Christian priest, translated not only the Koran, but also its glosses, and the seven books of the Sonna, out of Arabic into the Arragonian tongue, at the command of Martin Garcia t, bishop of Barcelona, and inquisitor of Arragon. Whether this translation were ever published or not I am wholly ignorant ; but it may be presumed to have been the better done for being the work of one bred up in the Mohammedan religion and learning ; though his refutation of that religion, which has had several edi- tions, gives no great idea of his abilities. Some years within the last century, Andrew du Ryer, who had been consul of the French nation in Egypt, and was tolerably skilled in the Turkish and Arabic languages, took the pains to translate the Koran into his own tongue : but his performance, though it be beyond comparison preferable to that of Retenensis, is far from being a just translation ; there being mistakes in every page, besides frequent transpositions, omissions, and additions §, faults unpardonable in a worlc of this nature. And what renders it still more incomplete is, the want of notes to explain a vast number of passages, some of which are difficult, and others impos- sible to be understood, without proper explications, were they translated ever so exactly ; which the author is so sensible of that he often refers his reader to the Arabic commentators ||. * His words are : " Questo libro, che gia havevo a commune utilita di molti fatto dal proprio teste Arabo tradurre nella nostra volgar lingua Italiana," &c. And afterwards : " Questo e I'Alcorano di I\Iacometto, il quale, come ho gia detto, ho fatto dal suo idioma tradurre," &c. -|- v. Joseph. Scalig. Epist. 3G1 et 362 ; et Selden. de Success, ad Leges Ebraeor. p. 9. J J. Andreas, in Proef. ad Tractat. suum de Confusione Sects Mahometanae. § V. Windet. de Vita Functorum statu, sect. 9. 11 '• If," says Savary, " the Koran, which is extolled throughout the East for the perfection of its style, and the magnificence of its imagery, stems, under the pen of du Ryer, to be only a dull and tiresome rliapsody, the blame must be laid on his XIV TO THE HEADER. Tlie English version is no other than a translation of Du Ryer's, and that a veiy bad one ; for Alexander Ross, who did it, being utterly unacquainted with the Arabic, and no great master of the French, has added a number of fresh mistakes of his own to those of du Ryer ; not to mention the meanness of his language, which would make a better book ridiculous. In 1698, a Latin translation of the Koran, made by Father Lewis Marracci, who had been confessor to Pope Innocent XI. was published at Padua, together with the original text, accompanied by explanatory notes and a refutation. This translation of Marracci's, generally speaking, is very exact; but adheres to the Arabic idiom too literally to be easily understood, unless I am much deceived, by those who are not versed in the Mohammedan learning*. The notes he has added are indeed of great use ; but his refutations, which swell the work to a large volume, are of little or none at all, being often unsatisfactory, and sometimes impertinent. The work, however, with all its faults, is very valuable, and I should be guilty of ingratitude, did I not acknow- ledge myself much obliged thereto ; but still, being in Latin, it can be of no use to those who understand not that tongue. Having therefore undertaken a new translation, I have endeavoured to do the original impartial justice, manner of translating. This book is di\'ided into verses, like the Psalms of David. This kind of writing, which was adopted by tlie prophets, enables prose to make use of the bold tenns and the figurative expressions of poetrj'. Du Ryer, paying no re- spect whatever to the text, has connected the verses together, and made of them a continuous discourse. To accomplish this misshapen assemblage, he has had recourse to frigid conjunctions, and to trivial phrase.s, which, destroying the dignity of tlie ideas, and the charm of tlie diction, render it impossible to recognize the original. While reading his translation, no one would ever imagine that tlie Koran is the masterpiece of the Arabic language, which is fertile in fine writers ; yet this is tlie judgment which antiquity has passed on it." • Of INIarracci's translation Savary says : " IVIarracci, that learned monk, who spent forty years in translating and refuting the Koran, proceeded on tlie right system. He divided it into verses, according to the text ; but, n^ecting the precepts of a great master, " Ncc verbuni verbo curabis redderc, fidus Interpres," &c. he translated it literally. He has not expressed the idea.s of the Koran, but tra- vestied the words of it into barbarous Latin. Yet, though all the beauties of tlie ori- ginal are lost in this translation, it is preferable to that by du Ryer." TO THE READER. XV not having, to the best of my knowledge, represented it, in any one instance, either better or worse than it really is. I have thought myself obliged, indeed, in a piece which pretends to be the Word of God, to keep somewhat scrupulously close to the text ; by which means the language may, in some places, seem to ex- press the Arabic a little too literally to be elegant English : but this, I hope, has not happened often ; and I flatter myself that the style I have made use of will not only give a more genuine idea of the original than if I had taken more liberty (which would have been much more for my ease) but will soon become familiar : for we must not expect to read a version of so extraor- dinary a book with the same ease and pleasure as a modern composition. In the notes my view has been briefly to explain the text, and especially the difficult and obscure passages, from the most approved commentators, and that gene- rally in their own words, for whose opinions or ex- pressions, where liable to censure, I am not answerable ; my province being only fairly to represent their ex- positions, and the little I have added of my own, or from European writers, being easily discernible. Where I met with any circumstance which I imagined might be curious or entertaining, I have not failed to produce it. The Preliminary Discourse will acquaint the reader with the most material particulars proper to be known previously to the entering on the Koran itself, and which could not so conveniently have been thrown into the notes. And I have taken care, both in the Preli- minary Discourse and the notes, constantly to quote my authorities and the writers to whom I have been be- holden ; but to none have I been more so than to the learned Dr. Pocock, whose Specimen Historian Arabum is the most useful and accurate work that has been hitherto published concerning the antiquities of that nation, and ought to be read by every curious inquirer into them. As I have had no opportunity of consulting public libraries, the manuscripts of which I have made use XVI TO THE READER. throughout the whole work Iiave been such as I had in my own study, except only the Commentary of al Bei- diiwi, and the Gospel of St. Barnabas. The first belongs to the library of the Dutch church in Austin Friars, and for the use of it I have been chiefly indebted to the Reverend Dr. Bolton, one of the ministers of that church : the other was very obligingly lent nie by the Reverend Dr. Holme, rector of Hedley in Hampshire ; and I take this opportunity of returning both those gentlemen my thanks for their favours. The merit of al Beidiiwi's Commentary will appear from the frequent quotations I have made thence ; but of the gospel of St. Barnabas (which I had not seen when the little I have said of it in the Preliminary Discourse *, and the extract I had borrowed from Mr. de la Monnoye and Mr. Tolandt, were printed off), I must beg leave to give some further account. The book is a moderate quarto, in Spanish, written in a very legible hand, but a little damaged towards the latter end. It contains two hundred and twenty- two chapters of unequal length, and four hundred and twenty pages ; and is said, in the front, to be translated from the Italian, by an Arragonian Moslem, named Mos- tafa de Aranda. There is a preface prefixed to it, wherein the discoverer of the original MS. who was a Christian monk, called Fra Marino, tells us, that having acci- dentally met with a writing of Irenaeus (among others), wherein lie speaks against St. Paul, alleging, for his authority, the Gospel of St. Barnabas, he became ex- ceedingly desirous to find this gospel ; and that God, of his mercy, having made him very intimate with Pope Sixtus v., one day, as they were together in that Po])e's library, his holiness fell asleep, and he, to employ him- self, reaching down a book to read, the first he laid his hand on proved to be the very gospel he wanted ; over- joyed at the discovery, he scrupled not to hide his prize in his sleeve, and on the Pope's awaking, took leave of him, carrying with him that celestial treasure, by read- ing of which he became a convert to Mohannnedism. * !} IV. p. 102, Vol. I. t In not. ad cap. :?, p. 61. Vol. 1. TO THE HEADER. Xvii This Gospel of Barnabas contains a complete history of Jesus Christ from his birth to his ascension ; and most of the circumstances of, the four real Gospels are to be found therein, but many of them turned, and some artfully enough, to favour the Mohammedan system. From the design of the whole, and the frequent inter- polations of stories and passages wherein Mohammed is spoken of and foretold by name, as the messenger of God, and the great projjhet who was to perfect the dispensation of Jesus, it appears to be a most barefaced forgery. One particular I observe therein induces me to believe it to have been dressed up by a renegade Christian, slightly instructed in his new religion, and not educated a Mohammedan (unless the fault be im- puted to the Spanish, or perhaps the Italian translator, and not to the original compiler), I mean the giving to Mohammed the title of Messiah, and that not once or twice only, but in several places ; whereas the title of the Messiah, or, as the Arabs write it, al Masih, i. e. Christ, is appropriated to Jesus in the Koran, and is constantly applied by the Mohammedans to him, and never to their own prophet. The passages produced from the Italian MS. by Mr. de la Monnoye are to be seen in this Spanish version almost word for word. But to return to the following work. Though I have freely censured the former translations of the Koran, I would not therefore be suspected of a design to make my own pass as free from faults : I am very sensible it is not ; and I make no doubt but the few who are able to discern them, and know the difficulty of the under- taking, will give me fair quarter. I likewise flatter myself that they, and all considerate persons, will ex- cuse the delay which has happened in the publication of this work ; when they are informed, that it was carried on at leisure times only, and amidst the neces- sary avocations of a troublesome profession. VOL. 1. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE SALE. Of the life of George Sale, a man of extensive learn- ing, and considerable literary talent, very few particu- lars have been transmitted to us by his contemporaries. He is said to have been born in the county of Kent, and the time of his birth must have been not long pre- vious to the close of the seventeenth century. His edu- cation he received at the King's School, Canterbury. Voltaire, who bestows high praise on the version of the Koran, asserts him to have spent five and twenty years in Arabia, and to have acquired in that country his profound knowledge of the Arabic language and cus- toms. On what authority this is asserted, it would now be fruitless to endeavour to ascertain. But that the assertion is an erroneous one, there can be no reason to doubt ; it being opposed by the stubborn evidence of dates and facts. It is almost certain that Sale was brought up to the law, and that he practised it for many years, if not till the end of his career. He is said, by a co-existing writer, to have quitted his legal pursuits, for the purpose of applying himself to the XX LIFE OF GEORGE SAEE. study of the Eastern and other tongues, both ancient and modern. His guide through the labjiinth of the oriental dialects was j\Ir. Dadiclii, the kiiig's inter- preter. If it be true that he ever relinquished the prac- tice of the law, it would appear that he must have re- sumed it before his decease ; for, in his address to the reader, prefixed to the Koran, he pleads, as an apology for the delay which had occurred in publishing the volume, that the work " was carried on at leisure times only, and amidst the necessary avocations of a trouble- some profession." This alone would suffice to prove that Voltaire was in error. But to this must be added, that the existence of Sale was terminated at an early period, and that, in at least his latter years, he was engaged in literary labours of no trifling magnitude. The story of his having, during a quarter of a century, resided in Arabia, becomes, therefore, an obvious im- possibility, and must be dismissed to take its place among those fictions by which biography has often been encumbered and disgraced. Among the few productions of which Sale is known to be the author is a part of " The General Diction- ary," in ten volumes, folio. To the translation of Bayle, which is incorporated with this voluminous work, he is stated to have been a large contributor. When the plan of the Universal History was arranged. Sale was one of those who were selected to carry it into execution. His coadjutors were Swinton, eminent as an antiquary, and remarkable for absence of mind ; Shelvocke, originally a naval officer ; the well-informed, intelligent, and laborious Campbell ; that singular cha- racter, Geor.(]je Psalninnazar ; and Archibald Bo\\er, who LIFE OF GEORGE SALE. XXl afterwards became an object of unenviable notoriety. The portion of the history which was supplied by Sale comprises " The Introduction, containing the Cosmo- gony, or Creation of the World ;" and the whole, or nearly the whole, of the succeeding chapter, which traces the narrative of events from the Creation to the Flood. In the performance of his task, he displays a thorough acquaintance with his subject ; and his style, though not polished into elegance, is neat and perspi- cuous. In a French biographical dictionary, of anti- liberal principles, a writer accuses him of having adopted a system hostile to tradition and the Scriptures, and composed his account of the Cosmogony with the view of giving currency to his heretical opinions. Either the accuser never read the article which he cen- sures, or he has wilfully misrepresented it ; for it af- fords the fullest contradiction to the charge, as does also the sequent chapter ; and he must, therefore, be contented to choose between the demerit of being a slanderer through blundering and reckless ignorance, or through sheer malignity of heart. Though his share in these publications affords proof of the erudition and ability of Sale, it probably would not alone have been sufficient to preserve his name from oblivion. His claim to be remembered rests principally on his version of the Koran, which appeared in November 1734, in a quarto volume, and was in- scribed to Lord Carteret. The dedicator does not dis- grace himself by descending to that fulsome adulatory style which was then too frequently employed in ad- dressing the great. As a translator, he had the field almost entirely to himself; there being at that tune XXll LIFE OF GEORGE SALE. 110 English translation of the Mohammedan civil and spiritual code, except a bad copy of the de- spicable French one by Du Ryer. His performance was universally and justly approved of, still remains in repute, and is not likely to be superseded by any other of the kind. It may, perhaps, be regretted, that he did not preserve the division into verses, as Savary has since done, instead of connecting them into a con- tinuous narrative. Some of the poetical spirit is un- avoidably lost by the change. But this is all that can be objected to him. It is, I believe, admitted, that he is in no common degree faithful to his original ; and his numerous notes, and Preliminary Discourse, mani- fest such a perfect knowledge of Eastern habits, man- ners, traditions, and laws, as could have been acquired only by an acute mind, capable of submitting to years of patient toil. But, though his work passed safely through the or- deal of criticism, it has been made the pretext for a calumny against him. It has been declared, that he puts the Christian religion on the same footing with the Mohammedan ; and some charitable persons have even supposed him to have been a disguised professor of the latter. The origin of this slander we may trace back to the strange obliquity of principles, and the blind merciless rage, which are characteristic of bigotry. Sale was not one of those who imagine that the end sanctifies the means, and that tlie best interests of mankind can be advanced by violence, by railing, or by deviating from the laws of tiaith, in order to blacken an adversary. He enters into the consideration of the character of Mohammed with a calm philosophic spirit ; LIFE OF GEORGE SALE. XXiii repeatedly censuring his imposture, touching upon his subterfuges and inventions, but doing justice to him on those points on which the jn-etended prophet is really worthy of praise. The rules which, in his address to the reader, he lays down for the conversion of Moham- medans, are dictated by sound sense and amiable feel- ings. They are, however, not calculated to satisfy those who think the sword and the faggot to be the only proper instruments for the extirpation of heresy. That he places Islamism on an equality with Chris- tianity is a gross falsehood. " As Mohammed," says he, " gave his Arabs the best religion he could, prefer- able, at least, to those of the ancient Pagan lawgivers, I confess I cannot see why he deserves not equal re- spect, though not with Moses or Jesus Christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet with Minos or Numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a iietv religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true God, and to destroy idola- try, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established." This, and no more, is " the very head and front of his offending;" and from this it would, I think, be difficult to extract any proof of his belief in the divine mission of Mohammed. If the charge brought against him be not groundless, he must have added to his other sins that of being a consummate hypocrite, and that, too, without any ob- vious necessity ; he having been, till the period of his decease, a member of the Society for the promoting of Christian Knowledge. XXIV LIFE OF GEOFvCE SALE. In 1736 a society was established for the encourage- ment of learning. It comprehended many noljlemen, and some of the most eminent literary men of that day. Sale was one of the founders of it, and v.as appointed on the first committee. The meetings were held weekly, and the committee decided upon what works should be printed at the expense of the society, or with its assist- ance, and what should be the price of them. ^Mien the cost of printing was repaid, the jjroperty of the work reverted to the author. Tliis establishment did not, I imagine, exist for any length of time. The at- tention of the public has been recently called to a plan of a similar kind. Sale did not long survive the carrying of this scheme into effect. He died of a fever, on the 13th of Novem- ber, 1736, at his house in Surrey-street, Strand, after an illness of only eight days, and was buried at St. Clement Danes. He was under the age of forty when he was thus suddenly snatched from his family, which consisted of a wife and five children. Of his sons, one was educated at New College, Oxford, of which he became Fellow, and he was subsequently elected to a Fellowship in Winchester College. Sale is described as having had " a healthy constitution, and a commu- nicative mind in a comely person." His library was valuable, and contained many rare and beautiful manu- scripts in the Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and other lan- guages ; a circumstance which seems to show that po- verty, so often the lot of men whose lives are devoted to literary pursuits, was not one of the evils with which he Nvas compelled to encounter. II. A. DA\'ENPORT. ADVERTISEMENT. The present Edition of Sale's Translation of the Koran will, it is hoped, be found to possess some advantages over every other. Many useful notes, and several hundred various readings, are added from the Erench version by Savary. Of the various readings, the major part give a different meaning from that which is adopted by the English translator ; while the others, though agreeing with his idea of the text, are more poetically expressed. Great care has been taken to prevent the work from being disfigured by typographical errors, which are peculiarly objec- tionable in a work of this kind, because they render it unsafe to be consulted. A Sketch of the Life of Sale is also prefixed, which, thougli brief, contains several particulars not hitherto stated by any of his biographers, and vindicates, and it is believed satisfactorily, his memory from some aspersions that have been illiberally cast upon it by the prejudiced or the ignorant. VOL. I, TABLE SECTIONS OF THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. Sect. P«g« 1 . Of the Arabs before Mohammed ; or, as they express it, in the Time of Ignorarice ; their History, Reli- gion, Learning, and Customs .... 1 2. Of the State of Christianity, particularly of the Eastern Churches, and of Judaism, at the time of Moham- med's appearance ; and of the methods taken by him for the establishing his Religion, and the cir- cumstances which concurred thereto . . 45 3. Of the Koran itself, the Peculiarities of that Book ; the Manner of its being written and published, and the general Design of it . . . .77 4. Of the Doctrines and positive Precepts of the Koran which relate to Faith and Religiotis Duties . 96 5. Of certain negative Precepts in the Koran . .168 6. Of the Institutions of the Koran in Civil AiFairs . 182 7. Of the Months commanded by the Koran to be kept sacred ; and of the setting apart of Friday for the especial service of God ..... 202 8. Of the principal Sects among the Mohammedans ; and of those who have pretended to Prophecy among the Arabs, in or since the time of Mohammed 208 TABLE CHAPTERS OF THE KORAN *. VOLUME I. Chap. Page 1. Intitled, The Preface, or Introduction; containing 7 verses I 2. Intitled, The Cow ; cont. 286 verses . . . 2 3. Intitled, The Family of Imran ; cont. 200 (199) verses 51 4. Intitled, Women ; cont. 175 verses ... 84 5. Intitled, The Table ; cont. 120 verses . . 116 6. Intitled, Cattle; (F/ocA-5); cont. 165 verses . 142 7. Intitled, Al Araf; cont. 206 (205) verses . .168 8. Intitled, The Spoils ; cont. 76 verses .• . . 200 * The titles and figures within parentheses arc those whiih are cjiveii iri tlic trans- lation by Savahy. THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. SECTION I. Of the Arabs before Mohammed, or, as they express it, in the time of ignorance; their history, re- ligion, learning, and customs. The Ai-abs, and the country they inhabit, which themselves call Jezirat al Arab, or the Peninsula of the Arabians, but we Arabia, were so named^ from Araba, a small territory in the province of Tehama ' ; to which Yarab the son of Kahtan, the father of the ancient Arabs, gave his name, and where, some ages after, dwelt Ismael the son of Abraham by Hagar. The Christian writers for several centuries speak of them under the appellation of Saracens ; the most certain derivation of which word is from shark, the east, where the descendants of Joctan, the Kahtan of the Arabs, are placed by Moses', and in which quarter they dwelt in respect to the Jews^ The name of Arabia (used in a more extensive sense) sometimes comprehends all that large tract of land bounded by the river Euphrates, the Persian Gulf, the Sindian, Indian, and Red Seas, and part of the Mediterranean: above two-thirds of which > Pocock, Specim. Hist. Arab. ;}3. - Genes, x. SO. ^ See Pocock. Specim. 3,J, 34. yoL. I. B 2 THF, PREI.lMINAllV DISCOURSE. [Sett. 1. country, that is, Arabia properly so called, the Arabs have possessed almost from the flood ; and have made themselves masters of the rest, either by set- tlements, or continual incursions ; for which reason the Turks and Persians at this day call the ^vhole Arabistan, or the country of the Arabs. But the limits of Arabia, in its more usual and proper sense, are much narroAver, as reaching no farther northward than the Isthnuis, which runs from Aila to the head of the Persian Gulf, and the borders of the territory of Ciifa ; which tract of land the Greeks nearly comprehended under the name of Arabia the Happy. The eastern geogra- phers make Arabia Petra>a to belong partly to Egypt, and j)artly to Sham or Syria, and the desert Arabia they call the deserts of Syria'. Proper Arabia is by the oriental writers generally divided into five provinces', viz. Yamau. Hejaz, Tehama, Najd, and Yamama; to which some add Bahrein, as a sixth, but this province the more exact make part of Irak ' : others reduce them all to two, Yaman and Hejaz, the last including the three other provinces of Tehama, Najd, and Yamama. The province of Yaman, so called either from its situation to the right hand, or south of the temple of Mecca, or else from the happiness and verdure of its soil, extends itself along the Indian ocean from Aden to cape Rasalgat ; part of the Red Sea bounds it on the west and south sides, and the province of Hejaz on the north'. It is subdivided into several lesser provinces, as Hadramaut, Shihr, Oman, Na- jran, &c. of which Shihr alone produces the fi*anli- incense '. The metropolis of Yaman is Sanaa, a very ancient city, in former times called Ozal, and much celebrated for its delightful situation ; but tiie prince at j)resent resides about five leagues north- Golius ad AHV,i,:an. 78, 7!). ' Strabo says Arabia Felix was in bis ,► divided into five kiiiRdom-., 1. If,, p. 1 129. ^ Gol. iid Alfra;:an. 7!^. •• La Roquc, Voyage dc 1' Arab. hc>ir. 121. Gol. ad Alfr:igaii. 7f). .'ij- Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. S ward from thence, at a place no less pleasant, called Hisn almawfdieb, or the Castle of delights . This country has been famous from all antiquity for the happiness of its climate, its fertility and riches-, \vhich induced Alexander the Great, after his return from his Indian expedition, to form a de- sign of conquering it, and fixing there his royal seat; but his death, which happened soon after, prevented the execution of this project'. Yet in reality, great part of the riches which the ancients imagined were the produce of Arabia, came really from the Indies, and the coasts of Africa ; for the Egyptians, who had engrossed that trade, which was then carried on by way of the Red Sea, to them- selves, industriously concealed the truth of the mat- ter, and kept their ports shut to prevent foreigners penetrating into those countries, or receiving any information thence : and this precaution of theirs on the one side, and the deserts, impassable to strangers, on the other, were the reason why Arabia was so little known to the Greeks and Romans. The delightfulness and plenty of Yaman are owing to its mountains ; for all that part which lies along the Red Sea is a dry, barren desert, in some places ten or twelve leagues over, but in return bounded by those mountains, which being well watered, enjoy an almost continual spring, and besides coffee, the peculiar produce of this country, yield great plenty and variety of fruits, and in particular excellent corn, grapes, and spices. There are no rivers of note in this country, for the streams which at cei'- tain times of the year descend from the mountains, seldom reach the sea, being for the most part drunk up and lost in the burning sands of that coast ^ . The soil of the other provinces is much more bar- ren than that of Yaman ; the greater part of their territories being covered with dry sands, or rising ' Voyage de 1' Arab. henr. 23-2. ' V. Dionys. Perieges. v. 927, &c. ^ Strabo, 1. Ifi. p. 1 132. Arrian. 161 . •• Voy. de V Arab. heur. 121. 123. 153. B 2 4 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1- into rocks, interspersed here and there with some fruitful spots, which receive their greatest advantages from their water and palm trees. The province of Hejaz, so named because it divides Najd from Tehama, is bounded on the south by Yaman and Tehama, on the west by the Red Sea, on the north by the deserts of Syria, and on the east by the province of Najd '. I'his province is famous for its two chief cities, Mecca and Medina, one of wliich is celebrated for its temple, and having given birth to Mohammed ; and the other for being the place of his residence, for the last ten years of his life, and of his interment. Mecca, sometimes also calledBecca, wliich words are synonymous, and signify a place of great concourse, is certainly one of the most ancient cities in the \v'orld : it is by some - thought to be the Mesa of the scripture', a name not unknown to the Arabians, and supposed to be taken from one of Ismael's sons \ It is seated in a stony and barren valley, sm'roundcd on all sides with mountains \ The length of Mecca, from south to north, is about two miles, and its breadth, from the foot of the mountain Ajj^ad, to the top of another called Koaikaan, about a mile . In the midst of this space stands the city, built of stone cut from the neighbouring mountains '. There being no springs at Mecca % at least none but what are bitter and unfit to drink ", except only the well Zemzem, the water of which, though far the best, yet cannot be drank for any continuance, being brackish, and causing eruptions in those who drink plentifully of it '", the inhabitants are obliged to use rain water which they catch in cisterns". But this not being sufficient, several attempts were made to bring water thither ' V. Gol. ad Alfrag. 9fi. Abiilfcda Dc-cr. Arab. p. r>. 2 r. Saadias in version. Arab. Pentat. Scfer Juchasin. 135. b. ^ Gen. x.30. ^ Gol. ad Alfrag. 82. See Gen. xxv. 15. '■ Gol. ib. f)}!. See Pitts* account of the 1 i.ligion and manners of the JNInhammcdans, p. 96. '^ Sharif id Edrisi apud Poc. Spcrim. 122. ' Ibid. " Gol. ad Alfragan. Hi). ^ Sharif al Edrisi ubi supra, 121. "• Ibid, and Pitts ubi supra, p. 107- " Gol. ad Alfrag. 99. Sect. 1.] THE PREI-IMINARY DISCOURSE. 5 from other places by aqueducts; and particularly about Mohammed's time, Zobair, one of the principal men of the tribe of Koreish, endeavoured at a great expense to supply the city with water from mount Arafat, but without success ; yet this was effected not many years ago, being begun at the charge of a wife of Soliman the Turkish emperor '. But, long before this, another aqueduct had been made from a spring at a considerable distance, which was, after several years labour, finished by the Khalif al Mok- tader '^ The soil about Mecca is so very barren as to pro- duce no fruits but what are common in the deserts, though the prince or Sharif has a garden well planted at his castle of Marbaa, about three miles westward from the city, where he usually resides. Having therefore no corn or grain of their own growth, they are obliged to fetch it from other places ^ ; and Ha- shem, Mohammed's great-grandfather, then prince of his tribe, the more effectually to supply them with provisions, appointed two caravans to set out yearly for that purpose, the one in summer, and the other in winter ^ ; these caravans of purveyors are men- tioned in the Koran. The provisions brought by them were distributed also twice a year, viz. in the month of Rajeb, and at the arrival of the pilgrims. They are supplied with dates in great plenty from the adjacent country, and with grapes from Tayef, about sixty mJles distant, very few growing at Mecca. The inhabitants of this city are generally very rich, being considerable gainers by the prodigious con- course of people of almost all nations at the yearly pilgrimage, at which time there is a great fair or mart for all kinds of merchandise. They have also great numbers of cattle, and particularly of camels : however, the poorer sort cannot but live very indif- ferently in a place where almost every necessary of ' Gol. ad Alfrag. 9!>. - Sharif al Edrisi ubi supr. "' Idem ib. ■> Poc. Spec. 51. 6 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOL'KSK. [Sflt. 1. life must be purchased with money. Notwithstand- ing this great sterility near Mecca, yet you are no sooner out of its territory than you meet on all sides with plenty of good springs and streams of running water, with a great many gardens and cultivated lands '. The temple of Mecca, and the reputed holiness of this territory, will be treated of in a more projier place. Medina, which till Mohammed's retreat thither Avas called Yathreb, is a walled city about half as big as Mecca -, built in a plain, salt in many places, yet tolerably fruitful, particularly in dates, but more especially near the mountains, two of A\hich, Ohod on the north, and Air on the south, are about two leagues distant. Here lies Mohammed interred ' in a magnificent building, covered with a cupola, and adjoining to the east side of the great temple, which is built in the midst of the city \ The province of Tehama was so named from the vehement heat of its sandy soil, and is also called Gaur from its lo\v situation ; it is bounded on the west by the Red Sea, and on the other sides by Hejaz and Yaman, extending almost from Mecca to Aden \ ' Sharif al Edrisi ubi supra, l"2r>. - Id. Vulgo Geogr. Nubieusis, 5. ^ Though the notion of 3Iohammed's King buried at IMecca has been so long exploded, yet several modern writers, whetlier througli ignorance or negligence I will not determine, have fallen into it. I shall here take notice only of two ; one is Dr. Smith, who liaving lived sonic time in Turl'.cy, seems to be inexcusable : that gentleman in his Epistles de moribus ac institutis Turcarum, no less than thrice mentions the Mohammedans visiting the tomb o( their prophet at Mecca, and once his being born at flledma, the reverse of which is true (see Ep. 1. p. 22, Ep. 2. p. (y,i and G4). The other is the publisher of the l.'-t edition of Sir J. Mandevile's travels, who, on his author's saying very truly (p. o(>.) tliat thesaid tomb was at Metlione (i. c. Medina), undertakes to correct the name of the town, which is something corrupted, l)y putting at the bottom of tlic page, Mecca. The Abbot de Vertot in his history of the order of IMalta (vol. i. p. 410. ed. flvo.) seems also to have confounded these two cities together, though lie had before mentioned Mohammed's sepulclire at Medina. However, lie i.^ certainly mistaken, when he says that one point of the religion, both of the Christians and Moham- medans, w;is to visit, at least once in their lives, the tomb i^f the auilior of their respective faith, ^\'hateve^ may be the opinion of some Christians, I am well assured the Mohammedans think tlicmselves under no manner of obligation in ihai respect. ' Gol. ad Alfrugan. !»7- Abulfcda Dcscr. Arab. p. 40. ^ (lol. ubi .sup. !)."). Sect. 1.] THE rRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 7 The province of Najd, wliicli word signifies a rising- country, lies between those of Yamania, Yaman, and Ilejaz, and is bounded on the east by Irak '. Tlie province of Yamama, also ^called Arud from its oblique situation, in respect of Yaman, is sur- rounded by the provinces of Najd, Tehama, Bahrein, Oman, Shihr, Hadraniaut, and Saba. The chief city is Yamama, which gives name to the province ; it was anciently called Jaw, and is particularly famous for being the residence of Mohammed's competitor, llie false prophet Moseilama ^ 1 lie Arabians, the inhabitants of this spacious country, which they have possessed from the most remote antiquity, are distinguished by their own writers into two classes, viz. the old lost Arabians, and the present. The former were very numerous, and divided into several tribes, which are now all destroyed, or else lost and swalloM^ed up among the other tribes, nor are any certain memoirs or records extant concerning thelu ' ; though the memory of some very remark- able events and the catastrophe of some tribes have been preserved by tradition, and since confirmed by the authority of the Koran. The most famous tribes amongst these ancient Arabians were Ad, Thamud, Tasm, Jadis, the for- mer Jorham, and Amalek. The tribe of Ad were descended from Ad, the son of Aws^, the son of Aram', the son of Sem, the son of Noah, who after the confusion of tongues settled in al Ahkaf, or the winding sands, in the province of Hadramaut, where his posterity greatly multiplied. Their first king was Shedad the son of i\d, of whom the eastern writers deliver many fabulous things, particularly that he finished the magnificent city his father had begun, wherein he built a fine palace, ' Gol. ubi sup. ;M. ' lb. 95. ^ Abulfarag. p. 15!>. ■» Or Uz. Gen. x. 22, 23. ^ V. Ivor. c. 89. Some make Ad the son of Amalek, the son of Ham; but the other is the received opinion. See D'Her- bel. 51. 8 THE PRELIMIXARV DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. adorned with delicious gardens, to embellish which he spared neither cost nor labour, j)urposing thereby to create in his subjects a superstitious veneration of himself as a God . This garden or paradise was called the garden of Irem, and is mentioned in the Koran ', and often alluded to by the oriental writers. The city, they tell us, is still standing in the deserts of Aden, being })reserved by providence as a mo- nument of divine justice, though it be invisible, un- less very rarely, when God permits it to be seen ; a favour one Colabah pretended to have received in the reign of the Khalif Moawiyah, who sending for him to know the truth of the matter, Colabah related his whole adventure ; that as he was seeking a camel he had lost, he found himself on a sudden at the gates of this city, and entering it saw not one in- habitant, at M'hich being terrified, he stayed no longer than to take with liim some fine stones which he showed the Khalif '. The descendants of Ad in ju-ocess of time falling from the worship of the true (jod into idolatry, Gotl sent the prophet Hud (who is generally agreed to be Heber") to preach to and reclaim them. But they refusing to acknowledge his mission, or to obey him, God sent a hot and suffocating wind, which blew seven nights and eight days together, and en- tering at their nostrils passed through their bodies \ and destroyed them all, a very few only excepted, M'ho had believed in Hud, and retired with him to another j)lace'. That prophet after^^■ards returned into Hadramaut, and was buried near Hasec, where there is a small town now standing called Kabr Hud, or the sepulchre of Hiid. Before the Adites were thus severely })unished, God to humble them, and incline them to hearken to the i)reaching of his j)rophet, afflicted them \\ith a drought for lour years, I V. Kuiu'. 4y8. - Cap. H!». ^ DHcibcl. .M. •< Tiu Jtw.-i acknowledge Hcbcr lo liuvc bucn a great j>r()j)liet. Setlcr Oluni. i>. 'J. ' A\ Hcidawi. * I'oe. Spec. 3."), &.c. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 9 SO that all their cattle perished, and themselves were very near it ; upon which they sent Lokman (dif- ferent from one of the same name M^ho lived in David's time) with sixty others to Mecca to beg* rain, which they not obtaining, Lokman with some of his company stayed at Mecca, and thereby escaped de- struction, giving rise to a tribe called the latter Ad, who were afterward changed into monkeys '. Some commentators on the Koran" tell us these old Adites were of prodigious stature, the largest being a hundred cubits high, and the least sixty ; which extraordinary size they pretend to prove by the testimony of the Korfm \ The tribe of Thamud were the posterity of Thamud the son of Gather' the son of Aram, who falling into idolatry, the prophet Saleh was sent to bring them back to the worship of the true God. This prophet lived between the time of Hud and "of Abraham, and therefore cannot be the same with the patriarch Selah, as Mr. d'Herbelot imagines'. The learned Bochart with more probability takes him to be Phaleg '. A small number of the people of Thamud hearkened to the remonstrances of Saleh, but the rest requiring, as a proof of his mission, that he should cause a she-camel big with young to come out of a rock in their presence, he accordingly obtained it of God, and the camel was immediately delivered of a young one ready weaned ; but they, instead of believing, cut the hamstrings of the camel and killed her ; at which act of impiety God being highly displeased, three days after struck them dead in their houses by an earthquake and a terrible noise from heaven, which, some' say, was the voice of Gabriel the archangel crying aloud, Die all of you. Saleh, with those who were reformed by him, were saved from this destruction ; the prophet going into ' Poc. Spec. Mi. " Jallalo'ddin ct Ziimakhsliari. Kor. c. 7. •< Or Geiher. V. Gen. x. 23. = D'Heibcl. Bibl. Oiient. 74U. <^ Bochart Gcoilan(l. where it was called rulli.ij^c or ( 'ullage, liaving been c.slabli.'-bcd by K. Dwen, and a'nclislud by IMikolm HI. Sec JiayWV Diet. Art. Sixte IV. Hcni. H. >■ Pee. Spec. O'O. " lb. 37, ^f. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINAllV DISCOUKSE. 11 pretend was one of the eighty persons saved in the ark with Noah, according to a Molmnimedan tra- dition') was contemporary with Ad, and utterly perished". The tribe of Amalek were descended from Amalek the son of Eliphaz the son of Esau', though some of the oriental authors say Amalek was the son of Ham the son of Noah^, and others the son of Azd the son of Sem\ The posterity of this person rendered themselves very powerful '', and before the time of Joseph, conquered the lower Egypt under their king Walid, the first who took the name of Pharaoh, as the eastern writers tell us^ ; seeming by these Amalekites to mean the same people which the Egyptian histories call Phoenician shepherds ^ But after they had possessed the throne of Egypt for some descents, they Vv'^ere expelled by the natives, and at length totally destroyed by the Israelites ". The })resent Arabians, according to their own historians, are sprung from two stocks, Kahtan, the same with Joctan the son of Eber '", and Adnan descended in a direct line from Ismael the son of Abraham and Ilagar ; the posterity of the former they call al Arab al Ariba ", i. e. the genuine or pure Arabs, and those of the latter al Arab al mo- stareba, i. e. naturalized or insititious Arabs, though some reckon the ancient lost tribes to have been the only pure Arabians, and therefore call the posterity of Kahtan also Mctareba, which word likewise signifies insititious Arabs, though in a nearer degree than Mostareba ; the descendants of Ismael being the more distant graif. The posterity of Ismael have no claim to be ad- mitted as pure Arabs ; their ancestor being by origin ' Poc.Spec. 38. - Ebn Shohnah. ^ Gen. xxxvi. 12. ' V. D'Herbslot, p. 11 0. 5 Eijn Shohnah. « V. Numb; xxiv. 20. • Mirat C;unat. * v. Joseph, cont. Apion. 1. i. '' V. Exod. xvii. 18, &c. 1 Sam xv. 2. &c. lb. xxvii. 8, 9- 1 Chron. iv. 43. "• R. San,cl. in vers. Arab. PciUat. Gen. X. 25. Some writers make Kahtan a descendant of Isnuid, but against the current of oriental historians. See Poc. Spec. 3.9. " An expression some- thing hkc that of St. Paul, who calls himself an Hebrew of the Hebrews. Philipp. 12 THE PKEr.L-VIINARV DlSCOUKSE. [Sect. 1. and language an Hebrew, but having made an alli- ance w'itli the Jorliamites, by marrying a daughter of Modad, and accustomed himself to their manner of living and language, his descendants became blended with them into one nation. Tlie uncer- tainty of the descents between Ismael and Adnan, is the reason Avhy they seldom trace their genealogies higher than the latter, whom they acknowledge as father of their tribes ; the descents from him down- M'ards being pretty certain and uncontro verted '. The genealogy of these tribes being of great use to illustrate the Arabian history, I have taken tlie pains to form a genealogical table from their most approved authors, to which I refer the curious. Besides these tribes of Arabs, mentioned by their own authors, who were all descended from the race of Sem, others of them were tlie posterity of Ham by his son Cush, which name is in scripture constantly given to the Arabs and their country, though our version renders it Ethiopia ; but strictly speaking, the Cushites did ncjt inhabit Arabia properly so called, but the banks of the Euphrates and the Per- sian Gulf, wliither they came from Chuzestan or Susiana, the original settlement of their father-. They might probably mix themselves in process of lime with the Arabs of the other race, but the eastern writers take little or no notice of them. The Arabians were for some centuries under the government of the descendants of Kahtan ; Yarab, one of his sons, founding the kingdom of Yaman, and Jorham, another of them, that of Hejaz. The province of Yaman, or the better ])art of it, particularly the i)rovinces of Saba and Hadrainaut, was governed by princes of the tribe of Hamyar, though at length the kingdom was translated to the descendants of Cahlan his brother, who yet retained the title of king of Hamyar, and had all of them tlie general title of Tobba, which signifies successor, and ' Toi. Spci. [1. 10. - v. n yilc Hi.st. Rcl. vctcr. Ttrjar p. .■{7^ A.c. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 13 was affected to this race of princes, as that of Caesar was to the Roman emperors, and Khali f to the suc- cessors of Mohammed. There were several lesser princes who reigned in other parts of Yaman, and were mostly, if not altogether, subject to the king of Hamyar, whom they called the great king, but of these history has recorded nothing remarkable or that may be depended upon '. The first great calamity that befell the tribes set- tled in Yaman was the inundation of Aram, which happened soon after the time of Alexander the Great, and is famous in the Arabian history. No less than eight tribes were forced to abandon their dwellings upon this occasion, some of which gave rise to the two kingdoms of Ghassan and Hira. And this was probably the time of the migration of those tribes or colonies which were led into Mesopotamia by three chiefs, Beer, Modar, and Rabia, from whom the three provinces of that country are still named Diyar Beer, Diyar Modar, and Diyar Rabia'. Abdshems, surnamed Saba, having built the city from him called Saba, and afterwards Mareb, made a vast mound or dam" to serve as a bason or reservoir to receive tlie water which came down from the mountains, not only for the use of the inhabitants, and watering their lands, but also to keep the country they had subjected in greater awe by being masters of the water. This building stood like a mountain above their city, and was by them esteemed so strong, that they were in no apprehension of its ever failing. The water rose to the height of almost 20 fathoms, and was kept in on every side by a work so solid, that many of the inhabitants had their houses built upon it. Every family had a certain portion of this water distributed by aqueducts. But at length God being highly displeased at their great pride and inso- lence, and resolving to humble and disperse them, ' Poc. Spec, p. 65, 06. - V. Gol. ad Alfrag. p. 232. ' Poc. Spec. p. 57. 14 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. sent a mighty flood, whicli broke down the inoimd by night while the inhabitants were asleej), and carried away the whole city with the neighbouring towns and people'. The tribes which remained in Yaman after this terrible devastation still continued under the obe- dience of the former princes, till about 70 years be- fore Mohammed, when the king of Ethiopia sent over forces to assist the Christians of Yaman against the cruel persecution of their king Dhu Nowas, a bigoted Je^v, whom they (i. ' ib. p. 74. '^ Ib. and Procop. in Pers. apud Photium. p. 71, &c. ^ Poc. Spec. p. 45. 16 THE PRELIMTNATIY DTSCOUP.SE. [Sect. 1. were, after various fortune, at last all destroyed by an inundation '. Of the kings of Haniyar, Hira, Ghassan, and Jor- ham, Dr. Pocock has given us catalogues tolera!)ly exact, to which I refer the curious '-. After the expulsion of the Jorhamites, the govern- ment of Hejaz seems not to have continued for many centuries in the hands of one prince, but to have been divided among the heads of tribes ; almost in the same manner as the Arabs of the desert are go- verned at this day. At Mecca an aristocracy pre- vailed, where the chief management of affairs till the time of Mohammed was in the tribe of Koreish ; especially after they had gotten the custody of the Caaba from the tribe of Khozaah '. Besides the kingdoms which have been taken notice of, there were some other tribes, which, in latter times, had princes of their own, and formed states of lesser note ; particularly the tribe of Kenda * : but as I am not writing a just history of the Arabs, and an account of them would be of no great use to my present purpose, I shall wave any further mention of them. xlfter the time of Mohammed, Arabia was for about three centuries under the Khalifs his successors. But in the year 325 of the Hejra, great pai't of that country was in the hands of the Karmatians % a new sect who had committed great outrages and disorders even in Mecca, and to whom the Klialifs were obliged to pay tri])ute, that the pilgrimage thither might be performed : of this sect I may have occasion to speak in another place. Afterwards Yaman was governed by the house of Thabateba, descended from Ali tlie son-in-law of Mohammed, whose sovereignty in Arabia some place so high as the time of Charle- magne. However, it was the posterity of Ali, or ' Poc. Spec. p. 7!). - Ii». p. 5."i. scq. ' V. lb. ]>. 41, and Prideaux's Life of IMahoniet, p. -'. * V. Poc. Spec p. IH, &(•. '- V. Elmacin. in vita al Kfidi. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 17 pretenders to be such, who reigned in Yanian and Egypt so early as the tenth century. The present reigning family in Yaman is probably that of Ayul), a branch of which reigned there in the thirteenth century, and took the title of Khalif and Imam, which they still retain '. They are not possessed of the whole province of Yaman -, there being several other independent kingdoms there, particularly that of Fartach. The crown of Yaman descends not re- gularly from father to son, but the prince of the blood royal who is most in favour with the great ones, or has the strongest interest, generally succeeds '. The governors of Mecca and Medina, who have always been of the race of Mohammed, also threw off their subjection to the Khalifs, since which time four principal families, all descended from Hasan the son of Ali, have reigned there under the title of Sharif, which signifies noble, as they reckon themselves to be on account of their descent. These are Banu Kader, Banu M usa Thani, Banu Hashem, and Banu Kitada ' ; which last family now is, or lately was, in the throne of Mecca, where they have reigned above 500 years. The reigning family at Medina are the Banu Hashem, who also reigned at Mecca before those of Kitada \ The kings of Yaman, as well as the princes of Mecca and Medina, are absolutely independent '', and not at all subject to the Turk, as some late authors have imagined '. These princes often making cruel wars among themselves, gave an opportunity to Selim I. and his son Soliman, to make themselves masters of the coasts of Arabia on the Red sea, and of part of Yaman, by means of a fleet built at Sues : but their successors have not been able to maintain their conquests ; for, except the port of Jodda, where they have a Basha whose authority is very small, they possess nothing considerable in Arabia ". > Voyage de TArab. heuv. p. 25.5. "- Ih. 153. 273. ^ lb. 254. < lb. 143. ■ lb. 145. e lb. 14.5. 14«. ■ V. D'Herbcl. Bibl. Orient, p. 477. * Voy. ilo I'Avab. lieur. p. 148. VOL. I. C 18 THE PllELlMIKATtY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. Thus have the Arabs preserved their liberty, of M'hich few nations can produce so ancient monuments, with very little interruption from the veiy deluge ; for though very great armies have been sent against them, all attempts to subdue them were luisuccess- ful. The Assyrian or Median empires never got footing amono- them '. The Persian monarchs. though they were their friends, and so far respected by them as to have an aimual present of frankincense -, yet could never make them tributary ' ; and were so far from being their masters, that Cambyses, on his ex- pedition against Egypt, was obliged to ask their leave to pass through their territories ' ; and when Alex- ander had subdued that mighty empire, yet the Arabians had so little apprehension of him, that they alone, of all the neighbouring nations, sent no am- bassadors to him, either first or last ; which, with a desire of possessing so rich a country, made him form a design against it, and had he not died Ijefore he could put it in execution \ this people might pos- sibly have convinced him that he was not invincible ; and I do not find that any of his successors either in Asia or Egypt, ever made any attempt against them ' . The Romans never conquered any part of Arabia properly so called ; the most they did was to make some tribes in Syria tributary to them, as Pompey did one commanded by Sampsiceramus or Shams' al- keram who reigned at Hems or Emesa ' ; but none of the Romans, or any other nations that we know of, ever penetrated so far into Arabia as iElius Gallus under Augustus Ciesar " ; yet he was so far from subduing it, as some authors pretend , that lie was soon obliged to return without effecting any thing considerable, having lost the best part of hi>; army • Piodor. Sic. 1. 7. p. 131. ' Herodot. 1. .S. c. t)?- Idem ib. c 01. Biodor. ubi sup. ' Herodot. 1. 3 c. R and 5)8. fetrabo, I. 16. p. 1076- ■ lo2. * v. Diodor. Sic. ubi supra. ■ Strabo, 1. 16. p. inp->. " Dion Oasiivis, 1. 53. p. m. 516. ' Hitet Hist. d\i commerce et ds la :iavigation dc£ anciois, c. 00. Sect. 1.] THE PEELIMINAHY DISCOURSE. 19 by sickness and other accidents '. This ill success probably discouraged tlie Romans from attacking- them any more ; for Trajan, notwithstanding the flatteries of the historians and orators of his time, and the medals struck by him, did not subdue the Arabs ; the province of Arabia, which it is said he added to the Roman empire, scarce reaching farther than Arabia Petra^a, or the very skirts of the country. And we are told by one author ', that this prince marching against the Agarens, who had revolted, met with such a reception that he was obliged to return without doing any thing. The religion of the Arabs before Mohammed, which they call the state of ignorance, in opposition to the knowledge of God's true worship revealed to them by their prophet, was chiefly gross idolatry ; the Sabian religion having almost overrun the whole nation, though there were also great numbers of Christians, Jews, and Magians, among them. I shall not here transcribe what Dr. Prideaux ' has written of the original of the Sabian religion ; but instead thereof insert a brief account of the tenets and worship of that sect. They do not only believe one God, but produce many strong arguments for his unity ; though they also pay an adoration to the stars, or the angels and intelligences which they sup- pose reside in them, and govern the world under the supreme Deity. They endeavour to perfect them- selves in the four intellectual virtues, and believe the souls of wicked men will be punished for 9000 ages, but will afterwards be received to mercy. They are obliged to pray three times ' a day, the first, half an liour or less before sun-rise, ordering it so that they may, just as the siui rises, finish eight adorations, each containing three prostrations ' ; the second ' See tlie whole expedition described at larye by Strabo, I. HJ, p. 112fi, &c. 2 Xiphilin. epit. •• Connect, of the Hist, of the Old and New Test. p. 1. b. 3. ■> Some say seven. See D'Herbelot, p. 726. and Hyde de rel. vet. Pers. p. 128. = Others say they use no incurvations or prostrations at all. v. Hyde, ib. c 2 20 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1- prayer they end at noon, when the sun begins to de- cline, in saying which they perform five such adoi'a- tions as the former ; and the same they do the third time, ending just as the sun sets. They fast three times a year, the first time thirty days, the next nine days, and the last seven. They offer many sacrifices. l)ut eat no part of them, burning them all. They abstain from beans, garlick, and some other jmlse and vegetables '. As to the Sabian Kebla, or part to which they turn their faces in praying, autliois greatly differ; one will have it to be the north . another the south, a third Mecca, and a fourth the star to which they pay their devotions - ; and perhaps there may be some variety in their practice in this respect. They go on pilgrimage to a place near tl'.e city of Harran in IMesopotamia, where great numbers of them dwell, and they have also a great respect for the temple of Mecca, and the pyramids of Egypt ' ; fancying these last to be the sepulchres of Seth, and of Enoch and Sabi his two sons, whom they look on as the first propagators of their religion ; at these strnctures they sacrifice a cock and a black calf, and offer up incense '. Besides the book of Psahns, the only true scripture they read, they have other books which they esteem equally sacred, particularly one in the Chaldee tongue which they call the book of Seth, and is full of moral discourses. This sect say, they took the name of Sabians from the above-men- tioned Siibi, though it seems rather to be derived from t^2^ Saba ' or the host of heaven, which they wor- ship '. Travellers commonly call them Christians of St. John the J3aptist, Avhose disciples also they pre- tend to be, using a kind of baptism, which is the greatest mark they bear of Christianity. This is one ' Abullariig, Hist. Dyn;ist. p. 281, &c. - Idem ib. » jjyjp^ u),j supr. p. 124, 6iC. ' D'Hcrbel. ubi supr. ■• See Greavc's Pyranii- dogr. p. f>, 7. " V. Toe. Spec, p 130. ? Tliahct Ebn Korrah, a famous aatronomer, and himself a Sabian, wrote a treatise in Syriac, concerning the (I fctrines, rites, and ceremonies of this sect; from wliich, if it could be re- covered, we might expect mucli better information than any taken from the Arabian writers. V. Abulfarag, ubi sup. Sect. 1.] THE PKELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 21 of the religions, the practice of which Mohammed tolerated (on paying tribute), and the professors of it are often included in that expression of the Koran, those to whom the scriptures have been given, or literally, people of the book. " The idolatry of the Arabs then, as Sabians, chiefly consisted in worshipping the fixed stars and planets, and the angels and their images, which they honoured as inferior deities, and whose intercession they begged, as their mediators with God. For the Arabs acknowledged one supreme God, the Creator and Lord of the universe, whom they called Allah Taala, the most high God, and their other deities, who were subordinate to him, they called simply al Ilahat, i. e. the goddesses; which words the Grecians not un- derstanding, and it being their constant custom to resolve the religion of every other nation into their own, and find out gods of theirs to match the others, they pretend the Arabs worshipped only two deities, Orotalt and Alilat, as those names are corruptly written, whom they will have to be the same with Bacchus and Urania; pitching on the former as one of the greatest of their own gods, and educated in Arabia, and on the other, because of the veneration shown by the Arabs to the stars '. That they acknowledged one supreme God, appears, to omit other proof, from their usual form of ad- dressing themselves to him, which was this, " I de- dicate myself to thy service, O God ! I dedicate my- self to thy service, O God ! Thou hast no companion, except thy companion of >vhom thou art absolute master, and of whatever is his ." So that they sup- posed the idols not to be sui juris, though they offered sacrifices and other offerings to them, as well as to God, who was also often put off with the least por- tion, as Mohammed upbraids them. Thus, when they planted fruit trees, or sowed a field, they divided 1 V. Hcniilot. 1. :]. c. 8. Aniiin, p. Itll, 162. and Stiab. 1. IC " Al Shalirestani. 22 THK PlU,l,iMlNAKY DISCOUKSK. [Sect. 1. it by a line into two parts, setting one apart for their idols, and the other for God ; if any of the fruits happened to fall from the idol's part into God's, they made restitution ; but if from God's part into the idol's, they made no restitution. So when they watered the idol's grounds, if the water broke over the channels made for that purpose, and ran on God's part, they dammed it up again ; but if the contrary, they let it run on, saying, they Avanted what was God's, but he wanted nothing '. In the same man- ner, if the offering designed for God happened to be better than that designed for the idol, they made an exchange, but not otherwise \ It was irom this gross idolatry, or the worship of inferior deities, or companions of God, as the Arabs continue to call them, that Mohammed reclaimed his countrymen, establishing the sole worship of the true God among them ; so that how much soever the Mohammedans are to blame in otlier points, they are far from being idolaters, as some ignorant writers have pretended. The worship of the stars the Arabs might easily be led into, from their observing the changes of weather to happen at the rising or setting of certain of them ', which, after a long course of experience, induced them to ascribe a divine jjower to those stars, and to think themselves indebted to them for their rains, a very great benefit and refreshment to their parched country : this superstition the Koran par- ticularly takes notice of \ The ancient Arabians and Indians, between which two nations was a great conformity of religions, had seven celebrated temples, dedicated to the seven planets ; one of which in particular, called Beit Ghoindan, was built in Sanaa the metropolis of Yamau, by Daiiac, to the honour of al Zoharah or the i)lanet Venus, and \\'as demolished by the Khalif ' Nodliin al dorr. - Al Inidawi. • V". PonI. ' V. Voc. Spci". p. !(;;{. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 23 Othman ' ; by whose murder was fulfilled the pro- phetical inscription set, as is reported, over this temple, viz. Ghomdan, he who destroyeth thee, shall be slain ". The temple of Mecca is also said to have been consecrated to Zohal or Saturn '. Though these deities were generally reverenced by the whole nation, yet each tribe chose some one as the more peculiar object of their worship. Thus, as to the stars and planets, the tribe of Ham- yar chiefly M^orshipped the sun ; Misam \ al Debaran or the bull's eye ; Laklim and Jodam, al Moshtari or Jupiter ; Tay, Sohail or Canopus ; Kais, Sirius or the dog-star; and Asad, Otared or Mercury'. Among the worshippers of Sirius, one Abu Cabsha was very famous ; some will have him to be the same with Waheb, Mohammed's grandfather by the mother, but others say he was of the tribe of Khozaah. This man used his utmost endeavours to persuade the Koreish to leave their images and worship this star ; for which reason Mohammed, who endeavoured also to make them leave their images, was by them nick- named the son of Abu Cabsha ^ The worship of this star is particularly hinted at in the Koran \ Of the angels or intelligences which they woi- shipped, the Koran ** makes mention only of three, which were worshipped under female names " ; Allat, al Uzza, and Manah. These were by them called goddesses, and the daughters of God ; an appellatft^n they gave not only to the angels, but also to their images, which they either believed to be inspirtvi" with life by God, or else to become \h tabernack^ of the angels, and to be animated by them ; and they gave them divine worship, because they imagmpd they interceded for them with God.' Allat was the idol of the tribe of Tho^cif wlio dwelt at Tayef, and had a temple consecrated to hei ' Shahrestani. 2 w Jannabi. Shahrestani, ■* This nam* seems to be corrupted, there being no such inong the Arih tribes. Poc. Spec, p. 130. ■■ Abulfarag, p. 160. » oc. Spec r. J32. ^ Cap. 63. f Ibid. 9 Ibid. 24 THE rilELIMINARV DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. ill a place called Nakhlali. 'i'liis idol al Mogheirah destroyed by Mohammed's order, who sent him and Abu Sofian on that commission in the ninth year of the Hejra '. The inhabitants of Tayef, especially the women, bitterly lamented the loss of this their deity, which they were so fond of, that they begged of Mohammed, as a condition of peace, that it might not be destroyed for three years, and not obtaining that, asked only a month's respite ; but he absolutely denied it-. There are several derivations of this word Avhich the curious may learn from Dr. Pocock \ It seems most probably to be derived from the same root with Allah, to which it may be a feminine, and will then signify the goddess. Al Uzza, as some affirm, was the idol of the tribes of Koreish and Kenanah \ and part of the tribe of Salim '" : others '^ tell us it was a tree called the Egyptian thorn, or Acacia, worshipped by the tribe of Ghatfan, first consecrated by one Dhalem, who built a chapel over it, called Boss, so contrived as to give a sound M'hen any person entered. Khaled Ebn l\''alid being sent by Mohammed in the eighth year of the Hejra to destroy this idol, demolished the chapel, and cutting down this tree or image, burnt it : he also slew the priestess, who ran out with her hair dishevelled, and her hands on her head as n si\ppliant. Yet the author who relates this, in another place says, the chapel was pulled down, and Dhalem liim.self killed by one Zohair, because he consecrated this chapel w ith design to draw the pilgrims thither fioin Mecca, and lessen the reputation of the Caaba. Thi' name of this deity is derived from the root azza, vud signifies the most mighty. Maiiah was the object of worship of the tribes of ' Dr. Piideaiix mentions tliis expedition, l)\it names diily Abii Sofian, and niislakiii|! the name of the idol for an appellative, supposes he went only to disarm tlic Taycfians of their weapons and inbti uments of war. Sec ids I/ile of Malioniet, p. !)K. Abuli'cda, Vit. Moliani. p. 127- ' Spec. p. !J(>. ' Al.Jauliari, apud eund. : ''' • Al S'l ilirc.stani. ib. " .Vl Firau/abridi. ib. \ Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 25 Hodhail and Khozaah ', who dwelt between Mecca and Medina, and, as some say -, of the tribes of Aws, Khazraj, and Thakif also. This idol was a large stone °, demolished by one Saad in the eighth year of the Hejra, a year so fatal to the idols of Arabia. Tlie name seems derived from mana to flow, from the flowing of the blood of the victims sacrificed to tlie deity ; w^hence the valley of Mina * near Mecca had also its name, where the pilgrims at this day slay their sacrifices \ Before we proceed to the other idols, let us take notice of five more, which, with the former three, are all the Koran mentions by name, and they are Wadd, Sav/a, Yaghiith, Yaiik, and Nasr. These are said to have been antediluvian idols, which Noah preached against, and were afterwards taken by the Arabs for gods, having been men of great merit and piety in their time, whose statues they reverenced at first with a civil honour only, which, in process of time, became heightened to a divine worship ". Wadd was supposed to be the heaven, and was worshipped under the form of a man by the tvibe of Calb in Baumat al Jandal '. Sawa was adored, under the shape of a w^om.Mi, by the tribe of Hamadan, or, as others '^ write, of Hod- hail in Rohat. This idol, lying under water for. some time after the deluge, was at length, it is saiuV discovered by the devil, and was worsh'oped by those of Hodhail; who instituted pilgrimages to it ". Yaghuth was an idol in the shape of a lion, and was the deity of the tribe of Madliaj and others who dwelt in Yaman '". Its name seems to be derived from ghatha, which signifies to help. • Yauk was worshipped by the tribe of Morad, or according to others, by that of Hamadan ' ' under the ' Al Jaubaii. ^ Al Shahrestani, Abulfeda, &c. AI Bcidawi. al Zamakhshari. •• Poc. Spec. 91, &c. ' Ibi(' • Koran, c. 71- Comment. Persic. V. Hyde de rel, vet. Pers. p. liil. ' AI Jauliari. al Shahrestani. « Idem, al Firauzabadi, and Safio'ddin. ^ Al Firauzab. -'' Shahrestani. •' Al Jauhari. 26 THE nirLIMINAIlY DISCOURSE. [Sett. 1. figure of a liorse. It is said he was a man of great piety, and his death much regretted ; wliereupon the devil appeared to his friends in a human form, and undertaking to represent him to the life, persuaded them, by way of comfort, to place iiis effigies in their temples, that they might have it in view when at their devotions. This was done, and seven others of extraordinary merit had the same honours shown them, till at length their jwsterity made idols of them in earnest '. The name Yiiuk probably comes from the verb aka to prevent or avert '. Nasr was a deity adored by the tribe of Hamyar, or at Dhii'l Khalaah, in their territories, under the image of an eagle, which the name signifies. There are, or were, two statues at Bamiyan, a city of Cabul in the Indies, fifty cubits high, which some writers suppose to be the same with Yaghuth and Yiii'ik, or else with Manah and Allat ; and they also speak of a third standing near the others, but something less, in the shape of an old woman, called Nesrem or Nesr. 'iliese statues were hollow within for the secret giving of oracles ' ; but they seem to have been different from the Arabian idols. There was f*lso an idol at Sumenat in the Indies, called Lat (A' al Lat, whose statue Avas fifty fathoms high, of a single stone, and placed in the midst of a temple supported by fifty-six pillars of massy gold ; this idol Mahmiid Ebn Sebecteghin, who concpiered that j)art of India, broke to pieces with, his own hands '. Besides the idols we have mentioned, the Ara])s worshipped als( great numbers of others, Avhich would take u; too much time to have distinct ac- counts givt»" of them, and not being named in the Koran, are Aot so much to our present purpose : for oesidcs tliat every house-keeper had his household god, or t(ods, which he last took leave of, and first saluted at his going abroad and returning home \ ' Al Fitauzabad. -' Poc. Spec. U-J. ^ Sec Hyde i\e rcl. vet. Pcrs. r- i:V2. ■• D'Hcrbclot, Bibl. Orient, p. 612. • Al .Mos-tairaf. Sect. 1.] THE PJiELI.MINAKY DISCOUKSE. 27 there were no less than three hundred and sixt\^ idols ', equalling- in number the days of their year, in and about the Caaba of Mecca ; the chief of whom was Hobal S brought fromBelka, in Syria, into Arabia by Anu'u Ebn Lohai, pretendiiig it would procure them rain when they wanted it '. It was the statue of a man made of red agate, which having by some accident lost a hand, the Koreish repaired it with one of gold : he held in his hand seven arrows with- out heads or feathers, such as the Arabs used in di- vination \ Ihis idol is supposed to have been the same with the image of Abraham % found and de- stroyed by JMohammed in the Caaba, on his entering it, in the eighth year of the Hejra, when he took Mecca', and surrounded with a great number of angels and prophets, as inferior deities ; among whom, as some say, was Ismael with divining arrows in his hand also '. Asaf and Nayelah, the former the image of a man, the latter of a woman, were also two idols brought with Hobal from Syria, and placed the one on mount Safa, and the other on mount Merwa. They tell us Asaf was the son of Amru, and Nayelah the daughter of Sahal, both of the tribe of Jorham, who commit- ting whoredom together in the Caaba, were by God converted into stone % and afterwards worshipped by the Koreish, and so much reverenced by them, that though this superstition was condemned by Mo- hammed, yet he was forced to allow them to visit those mountains as monuments of divine justice '. I shall mention but one idol more of this nation, and that was a lump of dough ^vorshipped by the tribe of Hanifa ; who used it with more respect than the papists do theirs, presuming not to eat it till they were compelled to it by famine '". ' Al Jannab. « Abulfed. Shahrest, &c •* Poc. Spec. f>5. ■• Safio'ddin. ^ Poc. Spec. 97- ** Abulfcda. ' Ebn al Atliir. al Jannab. <^c. ^ Poc. Spec. !)8. " Koran, ciip. 2. '" Al Mos- tatraf, al Jaiiliaii. 28 THE I'llELnilNARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. Several of their idols, as Manah in particular, AV'ere no more than larj^e rude stones, the worship of Mhich the posterity of Isniael first introduced ; for as they multiplied, and the territory of Mecca grew too strait tor them, great niunbers were obliged to seek new abodes ; and on such migrations it was usual for them to take with them some of tlie stones of that re})uted holy land, and set them up in the places A\ here they fixed ; and these stones they at first only compassed out of devotion, as they had accustomed to do the Caaba. But this at last ended in rank idolatry, the Ismaelites forgetting the re- ligion left them by their father so far, as to pay di- vine worship to any fine stone they met with '. Some of the pagan Arabs believed neither a crea- tion past, nor a resurrection to come, attributing the origin of things to nature, and their dissolution to age. Others believed both ; among whom were tliose wlio when they died had their camel tied hy their sepulchre, and so left without meat or drink to perish, and accompany them to the other world, lest they should be obliged, at the resurrection, to go on foot, which was reckoned "very scandalous". Some believed a metempsychosis, and that of the blood near the dead person's brain, was formed a bird named Hamah, wliich once in a hundred years visited the sepulchre ; though others say, this bird is animated b3^the soul of him that is unjustly slain, and continually cries, " Osciini, Oscuni," that is, " Give me to drink," meaning of the murderer's blood, till his death be revenged ; and then it flies away. This was forbidden by Mohannned to be believed \ I miglit here mention several superstitious rites and customs of the ancient Arabs, some of which were abolished, and otliers retained by Mohammed ; ])ut I apprehend it will be more convenient to take > Al Mobtatarf. al Janiuibi. -' Abull'arag. p. KiO. ^ Y. Tor. SjHT. p. Ki.'t. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINAUY DISCOURSE. 29 notice of them hereafter, occasionally, as the nega- tive or positive precepts of the Koran, forbidding or allo^ving such practices, shall be considered. Let us now turn our view from the idolatrous Arabs, to those among them, who had embraced more rational religions. The Persians had, by their vicinity and frequent intercourse with the Arabians, introduced the Ma- gian religion among some of their tribes, particularly that of Tamin ', a long time before Mohannned, who Avas so far from being unacquainted with that re- ligion, that he borrowed many of his own institu- tions from it, as will be observed in the progress of this v/ork. I refer those who are desirous to have some notion of Magism to Dr. Hyde's curious ac- count of it' ; a succinct abridgment of which may be read with much pleasure, in another learned per- formance'. The Jews, who fled in great numbers into Arabia from the fearful destruction of their country by the Ro- mans, made proselytes of several tribes, those of Kena- nah, al Hareth Ebn Caaba, and Kendall Mn particular, and in time became very powerful, and possessed of several towns and fortresses there. But the Jewish re- ligion was not unknown to the Arabs, at least above a century before ; Abu Carb Asad, taken notice of in the Koran ^ who was king of Yaman, about 7 00 years before Mohammed, is said to have introduced Judaism among the idolatrous Hamyarites. Some of his successors also embraced the same religion, one of whom, Yusef, surnamed Dhu Nowas ", was remarkable for his zeal, and terrible persecution of all who would not turn Jews, putting them to death by various tortures, the most common of which was throwing them into a glowing pit of fire, whence he had the opprobrious appellation of the " Lord of the ' Al Jlostcitraf. - In his Hist, relig vet. Persar. ^ Dr. Pri- deaux's Connect, of the Hist, of tlie Old and New Test. Part I. Book 4. ^ Al IMostatraf. '• Cliap. 50. ^ See before p. 14, and Baronii annal. ad sec, (j. 30 THE PREI.I^riNATJV DTSCOi:ESE. [Sect. 1. pit." This persecution is also mentioned in the Kornn '. Cliristianity had likewise made a very great pro- gress among this nation, before Mohammed. Whe- ther St. Paul preached in any part of" Arabia, pro- perly so called ', is uncertain ; but the persecutions and disorders which happened in the eastern church soon after the beginning of the third century, obliged great numbers of Christians to seek for shelter in that country of liberty ; who being for the most part of the Jacobite communion, that sect generally prevailed among the Arabs ', The principal tribes that embraced Christianity, were Ilamyar, Ghassan, Rabia, i aghlab, Bahra, Tonuch ', j)art of the tribes of Tay and Kodaa, the inhabitants of Najran, and the Arabs of Hira '. As to the two last, it may be observed, that those of Najran became Christians in the time of Dhu Nowas' ; and very probably, if the story be true, were some of those who were con- verted on the following occasion, which happened about that time, or not long before. The Jews of Hamyar challenged some neighbouring Christians to a public disputation, which was held sub dio for three days, before the king and his nobility, and all the people : the disputants being Gregentius, bishoj) of 'rephra (which I take to be Dhafar) for the C-hristians, and Herbanus for the Jews. On the third day, Herbanus, to end the dispute, demanded that Jesus of Nazareth, if he were really living, and in heaven, and could hear the prayers of his wor- shippers, should appear from heaven in their sight, and they would then believe in him ; the Jews cry- ing out with one voice, " Show us your Christ, alas, and we will l)ecome Christians." >\'liereupon. after a terrible storm . of thunder and lightning. Jesus Christ appeared in the air surrounded with rays of ■ Chap. lib. - See (i.ilat. i . 17. ' .•\l)uiranip. p. 14!>. ■• Al Mo.statrut". • v. I\)i-. SjK'c. !> . i:>.7. '■ ,\1 Jaiinal). apud Poc. Spec. p. 63. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 31 glory, walking on a purple cloud, having a sword in his hand, and an inestimable diadem on his head, and spake these words over the heads of the as- sembly— " Behold I appear to you in your sight, I, who was crucified by your fathers." After which the cloud received him from their sight. The Christians cried out " Kyrie eleeson," that is, " Lord, have mercy upon us !" but the Jews were stricken blind, and recovered not, till they were all bap- tized'. The Christians at Hira received a great accession by several tribes, who fled thither for refuge from the persecution of Dhu Nowas. Al Nooman, sur- named Abu Kabiis, king of Hira, who was slain a few months before Mohammed's birth, professed himself a Christian on the following occasion. This prince, in a drunken fit, ordered two of his intimate companions, who overcome with liquor had fallen asleep, to be buried alive. When he came to him- self, he was extremely concerned at what he had done, and to expiate his crime, not only raised a monument to the memory of his friends, but set apart two days, one of which he called the inifortu- nate, and the other the fortunate day ; making it a perpetual rule to himself, that whoever met him on the former day shoidd be slain, and his blood sprinkled on the monument, but he that met him on the other day should be dismissed in safety with magnificent gifts. On one of those unfortunate days, there came before him accidentally an Arab, of the tribe of Tay, who had once entertained this king, when fatigued with hunting, and separated from his attendants. The king, who could neither dis- charge him, contrarj'" to the order of the day, nor put him to death, against the laws of hospitality, which the Ai'abians religiously observe, proposed, as an expedient, to give the unhappy man a year's re- spite, and to send him home with rich gifts, for the ' V. Gregentii disput. cum Herbano Judapo. 32 THE PRELIMIXATiY DISCOlTvSE. [Sect. 1. support of liis family, on condition that he found a sm-ety for his returning at the year's end, to suffer death. One of the prince's court, out of compassion, offered himself as his surety, and the Arab was dis- charged. ^Vhen the last day of the term came, and no news of the Arab, the king, not at all displeased to save his host's life, ordered the surety to prei)are himself to die. Those who were by represented to the king that the day was not yet expired, and there- fore he ought to have patience till the evening : but in the middle of their discourse, the Arab appeared. The king, admiring the man s generosity, in offering himself to certain death, which he might have avoided by letting his siu*ety suffer, asked him, what was his motive for his so doing ? to which he an- swered, that he had been taught to act in that man- ner, by the religion he professed; and al Nooman demanding what religion that was, he replied the Christian. ^Vhereupon the king desiring to have the doctrines of Christianity explained to him, was baptized, he and his subjects ; and not only par- doned the man and his surety, but abolislied his bar- barous custom'. This prince, ho\vever, was not the first king of Hira who embraced Christianity ; al Mondar, his grandfather, having also professed the same faith, and built large churches in his capital \ Since Christianity had made so great a jwogress in Arabia, we may consequently suppose they had bishops in several parts, for the more orderly go- verning of the churches. A bishop of Dliafar has been already named, and we are told that Najraii was also a bishop's see . The Jacobites (of which sect we have observed the Arabs generally were) had two bishops of the Arabs subject to their Ma- frian, or metroi)olitan of the east ; one was called the ])ishop of the Arabs absolutely, whose seat was for the most part at Akula, \vhich some autliors ' Al Meitlani ,incl Ahmed Ebn Yusef, apuil Poc. Spec. p. 7-- - Abul- feda .ip. eiind, p. 7 '• ■' S:ilio\Uliii apud Poc. Spec. p. 137- ^ Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 33 make the same with CCifa', others a different town near Baghdad '. The other had the title of Bishop of the Scenite Arabs, of the tribe of Thaalab in Hira, or Hirta, as the Syrians call it, whose seat was in that city. The Nestorians had but one bishop, who pre- sided over both these diocesses, of Hira and Akula, and was immediately subject to their patriarch '\ These were the principal religions which obtained among the ancient Arabs ; but as freedom of tliought was the natural consequence of their political liberty and independence, some of them fell into other dif- ferent opinions. The Koreish, in particular, were infected with Zendicism\ an error supposed to have very near affinity with that of the Sadducees among the Jews, and, perhaps, not greatly different from Deism ; for there were several of that tribe, even before the time of Mohammed, who worshipped one God, and were free from idolatry ', and yet embraced none of the other religions of the country. The Arabians before Mohammed were, as they yet are, divided into two sorts, those who dwell in cities and towns, and those who dwell in tents. The former lived by tillage, the cultivation of palm trees, breeding and feeding of cattle, and the exercise of all sorts of trades °, particularly merchandizing \ wherein they were very eminent, even in the time of Jacob. The tribe of Koreish were much addicted to commerce, and Mohammed, in his younger years, was brought up to the same business ; it being cus- tomary for the Arabians to exercise the same trade that their parents did ^ The Arabs who dwelt in tents employed themselves in pasturage, and some- times in pillaging of passengers ; they lived chiefly on the milk and flesh of camels ; they often changed • Abulfarag. in Chron. Syriac, MS. " Abulfeda in descr. Iraca;. 3 Vid. Assemani Bibl. Orient. T. 2. in Dissert, de Monopliysitis ; and p. 459. * Al Mostatraf, apud Poc Spec. p. 136. ^ V. Reland. de Relig. INIoham. p. 270, and Milliuni de Mohamniedismo ante Moham. p. 311. ^' These seem to be the same whom Mr. La Roque calls Moors. Voy. dans la Palestine, p. 1 10. 7 See Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. G. ^ Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1129. VOL. I. D 34 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOITRSE. [Sect. 1. their habitations, as the convenience of water and of j)asture for their cattle invited them, staying in a place no longer than that lasted, and then removing in search of other '. They generally wintered in Irak, and the confines of Syria. This way of life is what the greater part of Ismael's posterity have used, as more agreeable to the temper and way of life of their father ; and is so well described by a late author -, that I cannot do better than refer the reader to his account of them. The Arabic language is undoubtedly one of the most ancient in the world, and arose soon after, if not at, the confusion of Babel. There were several dialects of it, very different from each other : the most remarkable were that spoken by the tribe of Hamyar and the other genuine Arabs, and that of the Koreish. The Hamyaritic seems to haA'e ap- proached nearer to the purity of the Syriac than the dialect of any other tribe ; for the Arabs ac- knowledge their father Yarab to have been the first whose tongue deviated from the Syriac (which was his mother tongue, and is almost generally acknow- ledged by the Asiatics to be the most ancient) to the Arabic. The dialect of the Koreish is usually termed the pure Arabic, or, as the Koran, which is written in this dialect, calls it, the perspicuous and clear Arabic ; perhaps, says Dr. Pocock, because Ismael, their father, brought the Arabic he had learned of the Jorhamites nearer to the original Hebrew. But the })oliteness and elegance of the dialect of the Koreish is rather to be attributed to their having the custody of the Caaba, and dwelling in Mecca, the centre of Arabia ; as well more remote from in- tercourse with foreigners, avIio might corrupt their language, as frequented by the Arabs from the country all around, not only on a religious account, but als(j for the composing of their differences, from ' Strabo, 1. Hi, \\ ^Ofil. '' La Roque, \\nagc dans la Palestine, p. iOd, vSii-. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 35 whose discourse and verses they took whatever words or phrases they judged more pure and elegant; by which means the beauties of the whole tongue became transfused into this dialect. The Arabians are full of the commendations of their language, and not altogether without reason ; for it claims the pre- ference of most others in many respects, as being- very harmonious and expressive, and withal so copi- ous, that they say no man, without inspiration, can be perfect master of it in its utmost extent ; and yet they tell us, at the same time, that the greatest part of it has been lost ; which will not be thought strange if we consider how late the art of writing was prac- tised among them. For though it was known to Job ', their countryman, and also to the Hamyarites (who used a perplexed character called al Mosnad, wherein the letters were not distinctly separate, and which was neither publicly taught, nor suffered to be used without permission first obtained) many centuries before Mohammed, as appears from some ancient monuments said to be remaining in their character ; yet the other Arabs, and those of Mecca in particular, were, for many ages, perfectly ignorant of it, unless such of them as were Jews or Chris- tians ^ : Moramer Ebn Morra of Anbar, a city of Irak, who lived not many years before Mohammed, was the inventor of the Arabic character, which Bashar the Kendian is said to have learned from those of Anbar, and to have introduced at Mecca but a little while before the institution of Moham- medism. These letters of Moramer were different from the Hamyaritic ; and though they were very rude, being either the same with or very much like the Cufic \ which character is still found in inscrip- tions, and some ancient books, yet they were those which the Arabs used for many years, the Koran 1 Job xix. 23, 24. ' See Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 29, 30. ^ A specimen of the Cufic character may be seen in Sir J. Chardin's travels, vol. III. p. 119. D 2 SG THE pPiEI-i:mixatiy discourse. [Sect. 1. itself being at first written therein ; for the beautiful cliaracter they now use was first formed from the Cufic by Ebn Moklah, Wazir (or Visir) to the Khalifs al Moktader, al Kaher, and al Radi, who lived about 300 years after Mohammed, and was brought to great perfection by Ali Ebn Bowab ', who flourished in the following century, and whose name is yet famous among them on that account ; yet it is said, the person who completed it, and reduced it to its present form, was Yakut al IMostasemi, secretary to al Mostasem, the last of the Khalifs of the family of Abbas, for which reason he was surnamed al Khattat, or the scribe. The accomplishments the Arabs valued themselves chiefly on were, 1. Eloquence, and a perfect skill in their own tongue ; 2. Expertness in the use of arms and horsemanship ; and, 3. Hospitality -. The first they exercised themselves in by composing of ora- tions and poems. Their orations were of two sorts, metrical, or prosaic, the one being compared to pearls strung, and the other to loose ones. They endea- voured to excel in both, and whoever was able, in an assembly, to persuade the people to a great enter- prise, or dissuade them from a dangerous one, or gave them other wholesome advice, was honoured with the title of Khateb, or orator, which is now given to the Mohammedan preachers. They pursued a method very different from that of the Greek and Roman orators ; their sentences being like loose gems, without connexion, so that this sort of com- position struck the audience chiefly by the fulness of the periods, the elegance of the expression, and the acuteness of the proverbial sayings ; and so persuaded were they of their excelling in this way, that they would not allow any nation to understand the art of ' Ebn Khalicim. Vet otliCrs attribute tlic honour of the invention of this character to Ebn Moklah's brother, Abdallah al Hasan; and the perfecting of it to Ebn Amid al Kateb, after it had been reduced to near the present form by /iSa'alhaniid. V. D'Herbcl. Bibl. Orient, p. TiDO. lOJI, and lf>4. • Poc. Orat. ante Carmen Tograi. ]'. 10. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 37 speaking in public except themselves and the Per- sians, which last were reckoned much inferior in that respect to the Arabians '. Poetry was in so great esteem among them, that it was a great ac- complishment, and a proof of ingenuous extraction to be able to express one's self in verse with ease and elegance on any extraordinary occurrence, and even in their common discourse they made frequent applica- tions of celebrated passages of their famous poets. In their poems were preserved the distinction of de- scents, the rights of tribes, the memory of great actions, and the propriety of their language ; for which reasons an excellent poet reflected an honour on his tribe, so that as soon as any one began to be admired for his performances of this kind in a tribe, the other tribes sent publicly to congratulate them on the occasion, and themselves made entertainments, at which the women assisted, dressed in their nuptial ornaments, singing to the sound of timbrels the happiness of their tribe, who had now one to protect their honour, to preserve their genealogies and the purity of their language, and to transmit their actions to posterity ' ; for this was all performed by their poems, to which they were solely obliged for their knowledge and instructions, moral and oeconomical, and to w^hich they had recourse, as to an oracle, in all doubts and differences '. No wonder then that a public congratulation was made on this account, which honour they yet were so far from making cheap, that they never did it but on one of these three occasions, which were reckoned great points of felicity ; viz. on the birth of a boy, the rise of a poet, and the fall of a foal of generous breed. To keep up an emulation among their poets, the tribes had, once a year, a general assembly at Ocadh ', a place famous on this account, and where they kept a weekly mart or fair, which was held on our Sun- ' Poc. Spec. 161. 2 Ebn Rashik, apud Poc. Spec. WO ' Poc. Orat. pislix. Garm. Tcgiai, ubi supra. '' Idem, Spec. p. 15P. 38 THE PllELIMINARY DISCOUKSP:. [Sect. 1. day '. This annual meeting lasted a whole month, during which time they employed themselves, not only in trading, but in repeating their poetical com- positions, contending and vying with each other for the prize ; whence the place, it is said, took its name \ The poems that were judged to excel were laid up in their king's treasuries, as were the seven cele- brated poems, thence called al Moallakat, rather than from their being hung up on the Caaba, which honour they also had by public order, being written on Egyptian silk, and in letters of gold ; for which reason they had also the name of al Modhahabat, or the golden verses '. The fair and assembly at Ocadli were suppressed by Mohammed, in whose time, and for some years after, poetry seems to have been in some degree neglected by the Arabs, who were then employed in their conquests ; which being completed, and them- selves at peace, not only this study was revived ', but almost all sorts of learning Avere encouraged and greatly improved by them. This interruption, how- ever, occasioned the loss of most of their ancient pieces of poetry, which were then chiefly preserved by memory, the use of writing being rare among them in their time of ignorance \ Though the Arabs were so early acquainted with poetry, they did not at first use to write poems of a just length, but only expressed themselves in verse occasionally ; nor was their prosody digested into rules till some time after Mohammed ''' ; for this was done, as it is said, by al Khalil Ahmed al Farahidi, who lived in the reimi of the Khalif Harun al Rashid '. o > GeogT. Nub. p. 51. ^ Poc. Spec. 159. ■■ Ibid, and p. 3R1. Et in cake Notar. in Carmen Tograi, p. 2.'i3. * Jallalo'ddin al Soyiiti, apud, Poc Spec. p. 159, &c. ■ lb. KiO. •> lb. IGI. Al S;ifadi conKrms this by a story of a grammarian, named Abu Jaafar, who sitting by the Mikyas or Nilometer in Egj'pt, in a year when the Nile did not rise to its usual height, so that a famine was apprehended, and dividing apiece of poetry into its parts or feet, to examine them by the rules of art, some who passed by, not understand- ing him, imagined he was uttering a cliarni to hinder tlic rise of tlic river, and pushed liini ii.to tlic water, wlierciie lost his lil'e. " V. Clericum de Pro- sod. Arab. p. 2. Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 39 The exercise of arms and horsemanship they were in a manner obliged to practise and encourage by 'reason of the independence of their tribes, whose fre- quent jarrings made wars abiiost continual ; and they chiefly ended their disputes in field battles ; it being an usual saying among them, that God had bestowed four peculiar things on the Arabs, that their turbands should be to them instead of diadems, their tents instead of walls and houses, their swords instead of intrenchments, and their poems instead of written laws '. Hospitality was so habitual to them, and so much esteemed, that the examples of this kind among them exceed whatever can be produced from other nations. Hatem of the tribe of Tay ^ and Hasn of that of Fezarah \ were particularly famous on this account ; and the contrary vice was so much in contempt, that a certain poet upbraids the inhabitants of Waset, as with the greatest reproach, that none of their men had the heart to give, nor their women to deny \ Nor Avere the Arabs less prepense to liberality after the coming of Mohammed than their ancestors had been. I could produce many remarkable in- stances of this commendable quality among them % but shall content myself with the following. Three men were disputing in the court of the Caaba which was the most liberal person among the Arabs. One gave the preference to Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, the uncle of Mohammed ; another to Kais Ebn Saad Ebn Obadah ; and the third gave it to Arabah of the tribe of Aws. After much debate, one that was present, to end the dispute, proposed that each of them should go to his friend and ask his assistance, that they might see what every one gave, and form • Pocock, in cake Notar. ad Carmen Tograi. - V. Gentii Notas in Gulistan Sheildi Sadi, p. 4o(J, &c. ^ pp,., gpej., p. 4<], < Ebn ;il Ilo- beirah, apud Poc. in Not. ad Carmen Tograi, p. I07. ' Several may be found in D'Hcrbelot's Bibl. Orient particularly in the articles of Hasan the son of Ali, Maan, Fadliel, and Ebn Yahya. 40 THE PKELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Secl. 1. a judgment accordingly. This was agreed to ; and Abdallah's friend going to him, found him with his foot in the stirrup, just mounting his camel for a journey, and thus accosted him : Son of the uncle of t'.ie apostle of God, I am travelling and in necessity. Upon Avhich Abdaliah alighted, and bid him take the camel with all that was upon her, but desired him not to part with a sword which happened to be fixed to the saddle, because it had belonged to Ali, the son of Abutaleb. So he took the camel, and found on her some vests of silk, and four thousand pieces of gold ; but the thing of greatest value was the sword. The second went to Kais Ebn Saad, whose servant told him that his master was asleep, and desired to know his business. The friend answered that he came to ask Kais's assistance, being in want on the road. Whereupon the servant said, that he had rather supply his necessity than wake his master, and gave him a purse of seven thousand pieces of gold, assuring him that it was all the money then in the house. He also directed him to go to those Avho had the charge of the camels, with a certain token, and take a camel, and a slave, and return home with them. When Kais awoke, and his servant informed him of what he had done, he gave him his freedom, and asked him why he did not call him, for, says he, I would have given him more. The third man went to Arabah, and met him coming out of his house, in order to go to prayers, and leaning on two slaves, because his eye-sight failed him. The friend no sooner made known his case, but Arabah let go the slaves, and clapping his hands together, loudly lamented his misfortune in having no money, but desired him to take the two slaves ; which the man refused to do, till Arabah protested tliat if he would not accept of them, he gave them their liberty ; and, leaving the slaves, groped his way along by the wall. On the return of the adventurers, judgment was Sect. 1.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 41 unanimously, and with great justice, given by all who were present, that Arabah was the most ge- nerous of the three. Nor were these the only good qualities of the Arabs ; they are commended by the ancients for being- most exact to their words ', and respectful to their kindred". And they have always been celebrated for their quickness of apprehension and penetration, and the vivacity of their wit ; especially those of the desert \ As the Arabs had their excellencies, so have they, like other nations, their defects and vices. Their own writers acknowledge that they have a natural disposition to war, bloodshed, cruelty, and rapine ; being so much addicted to bear malice, that they scarce ever forget an old grudge ; which vindictive temper some physicians say is occasioned by their frequent feeding on camels' flesh (the ordinary diet of the Arabs of the desert, who are therefore ob- served to be most inclined to these vices), that crea- ture being most malicious and tenacious of anger ^ ; which account suggests a good reason for a distinc- tion of meats. The frequent robberies committed by these people on merchants and travellers have rendered the name of an Arab almost infamous in Europe ; this they are sensible of, and endeavour to excuse themselves by alleging the hard usage of their father Ismael, who being turned out of doors by Abraham, had the open plains and deserts given him by God for his patrimony, with permission to take whatever he could find there. And on this account they think they may, with a safe conscience, indemnify them- selves, as well as they can, not only on the posterity of Isaac, but also on every body else ; always sup- posing a sort of kindred between themselves and ■ Herodot. 1. 3, c. 8. = Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1129. ^ y. U'llerhtl. Bibl. Orient, p. 121. " V. Poc. Spec. p. 87. Bochart. Hicrozoic. I. 2, c. 1. 42 THE rilELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. those they plunder. And in relating their adven- tures of this kind, they think it sufficient to change the expression, and instead of, I robbed a man of such or such a thing, to say, I gained it '. We must not, however, imagine that they are the less honest for this among themselves, or towards those Avhom they receive as friends ; on the contrary, the strictest probity is observed in their camp, where every thing is open, and nothing ever known to be stolen ". The sciences the Ai*abians chiefly cultivated belbre Mohammedism were three ; that of their genealo- gies and history, such a knowledge of the stars as to foretel the changes of weather, and the interpreta- tion of dreams \ They used to value themselves excessively on account of the nobility of their families, and so many disputes happened on that occasion, that it is no wonder if they took great pains in settling their descents. What knowledge they had of the stars was gathered from long ex- perience, and not from any regular study, or astro- nomical rules \ The Arabians, as the Indians also did, chiefly ai)plied themselves to observe the fixed stars, contrary to other nations, whose observations were almost confined to the planets ; and they fore- told their effects from their influences, not their nature ; and hence, as has been said, arose the dif- ference of the idolatry of the Greeks and Chaldeans, ■who chiefly worshi})ped the planets, and that of the Indians, who worshipped the fixed stars. The stars or asterisms they most usually foretold the weather by were those they call Anwa, or the houses of the moon. These are twenty-eight in number, and divide the zodiac into as many })arts, through one of which the moon passes every night ' ; as some of them set ■ Voyage iliins la Palest, j). 220, &c. - Ibid. p. 213, &c. ^ Al Sli;il»rcstani, apuil I'ocock Oiat. ubi sup. \>. 0, and Spec. I(i4. •" Abiil- larag. p. Kil. ^ V. Hyde, in not. ad Tabuhis stellar, lixar. Ulugli Beij;'!, p. Ti. Sect. 1.] THE PllELIMINARY DISCOURSE. ^ in the morning, others rise opposite to them, which happens every thirteenth night, and from their rising and setting, the Arabs, by long experience, observed what changes happened in the air ; and at length, as has been said, came to ascribe divine power to them, saying, that their rain was from such or such a star ; which expression Mohammed con- demned, and absolutely forbade them to use it in the old sense, unless they meant no more by it thai that God had so ordered the seasons, that when tht moon was in such or such a mansion or house, or at the rising or setting of such and such a star, it should rain or be windy, hot or cold '. The old Arabians, therefore, seem to have made no farther progress in astronomy, which science they afterwards cultivated with so much success and ap- plause, than to observe the influence of the stars on the weather, and to give them names ; and this it was obvious for them to do by reason of their pas- toral way of life, lying night and day in the open plains. The names they imposed on the stars gene- rally alluded to cattle and flocks, and they were so nice in distinguishing them, that no language has so many names of stars and asterisms as the Arabic ; for though they have since borrowed the names of several constellations from the Greeks, yet the far greater part are of their own growth, and much more ancient, particularly those of the more con- spicuous stars, dispersed in several constellations, and those of the lesser constellations which are con- tained within the greater, and were not observed or named by the Greeks ■. Thus have I given the most succinct account I have been able, of the state of the ancient Arabians before Mohammed, or, to use their expression, in the time of ignorance. I shall now proceed briefly 1 V. Poc. Spec. p. I{i3, &c. 2 V. Hyde ubi sup. p. 1. 44 THE rKELIMINAUY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 1. to consider the state of religion in the east, and of the two great empires which divided that part of the world between them, at the time of Mohammed's setting uj) for a prophet, and what Avere the con- ducive circumstances and accidents that favoured his success. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINAHY DISCOURSE. 45 SECTION II. Of the state of Christianity, particularly of the eastern churches, and of Judaism, at the time of Mohammed's appearance ; and of the methods taken by him for the establishing his religion, and the circumstances which concurred thereto. If we look into the ecclesiastical historians even from the third century, we shall find the Christian world to have then had a very different aspect from what some authors have represented ; and so far from being endued with active grace, zeal, and de- votion, and established within itself with purity of doctrine, union, and firm profession of the faith ', that, on the contrary, what by the ambition of the clergy, and what by drawing the abstrusest niceties into controversy, and dividing and subdividing about them into endless schisms and contentions, they had so destroyed that peace, love, and charity from among them, which the Gospel was given to pro- mote ; and instead thereof continually provoked each other to that malice, rancour, and every evil work ; that they had lost the whole substance of their re- ligion, while they thus eagerly contended for their own imaginations concerning it; and in a manner quite drove Christianity out of the world by those very controversies in which they disputed with each other about it". In these dark ages it was that most of those superstitions and corruptions we now justly abhor in the church of Rome were not only ' Ricaut's state of the Ottoman empire, p. ISJ. ^ Prideaux's pref. to his life of IMahomet. 46 THE PRELi:\IINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. broached, but established ; which gave great advan- tages to the propagation of Mohammedism. The worship of saints and images, in particular, was then arrived at such a scandalous pitch, that it even sur- passed whatever is now practised among the Ro- manists '. After the Nicene council, the eastern church was engaged in perpetual controversies, and torn to pieces by the disputes of the Arians, Sabellians, Nestorians, and Eutychians : the heresies of the two last of which have been shown to have consisted more in the words and form of expression than in the doctrines themselves"; and were rather the pre- tences than real motives of those frequent councils, to and from which the contentious prelates were continually riding post, that they might bring every thing to their own will and pleasure '. And to sup- port themselves by dependants and bribery, the clergy in any credit at court undertook the protec- tion of some officer in the army, under the colour of which justice was publicly sold, and all corruption encouraged. In the western church, Damasus and Ursicinus carried their contests at Rome for the episcopal seat so high that they came to open violence and mur- der, which Viventius the governor not being able to suppress, he retired into the country, and left them to themselves, till Damasus prevailed. It is said that on this occasion, in the church of Sicininus, there were no less than a hundred and thirty-seven found killed in one day. And no wonder they were so fond of these seats, when they became by that means enriched by the presents of matrons, and went abroad in their chariots and sedans in great state, feasting sump- tuously even beyond the luxury of princes, quite contrary to the way of living of the country pre- ' v. La vie dc ^Mahomed, par Boulainvillicrs, p. 219, &c. ^ V. Simon, Hist. Crit. de la creance, &c.'des nations du Levant. ^ Ammian. Mar- cellin. 1. 21. V. etiani Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. 8, c. 1. Sozom. 1. 1, c 14, &.c. Hilar, and Sulpic. Sever, in Hist. Sacr. p. 112, &c. Sect. 2.] THE PrtELTMINARY DISCOURSE. 47 lates, who alone seemed to have some temperance and modesty left'. These dissensions were greatly owing to the em- perors, and particularly to Constantius, who, con- founding the pure and simple Christian religion with anile superstitions, and perplexing it with intricate questions, instead of reconciling different opinions, excited many disputes, which he fomented as they proceeded with infinite altercations-. This grew worse in the time of Justinian, who not to be behind the bishops of the fifth and sixth centuries in zeal, thought it no crime to condemn to death a man of a different persuasion from his own '. This corruption of doctrine and morals in the princes and clergy was necessarily followed by a general depravity of the people + ; those of all con- ditions making it their sole business to get money by any means, and then to squander it away, when they had got it, in luxury and debauchery \ But, to be more particular as to the nation we are now writing of, Arabia was of old famous for here- sies'^; which might be in some measure attributed to the liberty and independency of the tribes. Some of the Christians of that nation believed the soul died with the body, and was to be raised again with it at the last day': these Origen is said to have convinced ^ Among the Arabs it was that the heresies of Ebion, Beryllus, and the Nazarseans", and also that of the Collyridians, were broached, or at least propagated ; the latter introduced the Virgin Mary for God, or worshipped her as such, offering her a sort of twisted cake called colly riSy whence the sect had its name '°. ' Ammian. Marcellin. lib. 27- ^ Idem, 1. 21. 3 Procop. in Anecd. p. 60. ^ See an instance of the wickedness of the Christian armj' even wlien they were under the terror of the Saracens, in Ockley's Hist, of the Sarac. V. i. p. 23!). '■ V. Boulainvill. Vie de IMahom. ubi sup. " V. Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. 1. 1, c. IG, IJ. Sulpic. Sever, ubi supra. " Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. fi, c. 33. » Idem, ibid. c. 37. ^ Epiphan. de Hferesi, 1. 1. Haer. 40. " Idem, ibid. 1. 3. Haeres. 7o. 79. 48 THE PREI-OriNAltY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. This notion of the divinity of the Virgin Mary was also believed by some at the council of Nice, who said there were two gods besides the Father, viz. Christ and the Virgin Mary, and were thence named Mariamites '. Others imagined her to be exempt from humanity, and deified ; which goes but little beyond the Popish superstition in calling her the complement of the Trinity, as if it were imper- fect without her. This foolish imagination is justly condemned in the Koran - as idolatrous, and gave a handle to Mohammed to attack the Trinity itself. Other sects there were of many denominations within the borders of Arabia, which took refuge there from the proscriptions of the imperial edicts ; several of whose notions Mohammed incorporated with his religion, as may be observed hereafter. Though the Jews were an inconsiderable and despised people in other parts of the world, yet in Arabia, whither many of them fled from the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, they grew very powerful, several tribes and princes embracing their religion ; whicli made Mohammed at first show great regard to them, adopting many of their opinions, doctrines, and cus- toms ; thereby to draw them, if possible, into his interest. But that people, agreeably to their wonted obstinacy, were so far from being his proselytes, that they were some of the bitterest enemies he had, waging continual war with him, so that their reduc- tion cost him infinite trouble and danger, and at last his life. This aversion of theirs created at length as great a one in him to them, so that he used them, for the latter part of his life, much worse than he did the Christians, and frequently exclaims against them in his Koran ; his followers to this day ob- serve the same difference between them and the Christians, treating the former as the most abject and contemptible people on earth. It has been observed by a great politician ', that ' Rlmacin. Eutycli. - Cap. 5. ' Madiiavclli, Priiic. c. 6, p. 1!). Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 49 it is impossible a person should make himself a prince and found a state without opportunities. If the distracted state of religion favoured the designs of Mohammed on that side, the weakness of the Ro- man and Persian monarchies might flatter him with no less hopes in any attempt on those once for- midable empires, eitlier of which, had they been in their full vigour, must have crushed Mohammedism in its birth ; whereas nothing nourished it more than the success the Arabians met with in their en- terprises against those powers, which success they failed not to attribute to their new religion and the divine assistance thereof. The Roman empire declined apace after Constan- tine, whose successors were for the generality re- markable for their ill qualities, especially cowardice and cruelty. By Mohammed's time, the western half of the empire was overrun by the Goths ; and the eastern so reduced by the Huns on the one side, and the Persians on the other, that it was not in a capacity of stemming the violence of a powerful in- vasion. The emperor Maurice paid tribute to the Khagan or king of the Huns ; and after Pliocas had murdered his master, such lamentable havoc there was among the soldiers, that when Heraclius came, not above seven years after, to muster the army, there were only two soldiers left alive, of all those who had borne arms when Phocas first usurped the empire. And though Heraclius was a j^rince of admirable courage and conduct, and had done what possibly could be done to restore the discipline of the army, and had had great success against the Per- sians, so as to drive them not only out of his own dominions, but even out of part of their ov/n ; yet still the very vitals of the empire seemed to be mor- tally wounded ; that there could no time have hap- pened more fatal to the empk'e, or more favourable to the enterprises of the Arabs ; who seem to have been raised up on purpose by God, to be a scourge YOL. I. E 50 THE TRELIMIXAKY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. to the Christian chiirdi, for not living answerably to that most holy religion whidi they had re- ceived'. The general luxury and degeneracy of manners into which the Grecians were sunk, also contributed not a little to the enervating their forces, Avhich were still further drained by those two great de- stroyers, monachism and persecution. The Persians had also been in a declining condi- tion for some time before Mohammed, occasioned chiefly by tlicir intestine broils and dissensions ; great part of which arose from the devilish doctrines of Manes and IMazdak. The opinions of the former are tolerably well known : the latter lived in the reigii of Khosru Kobad, and pretended himself a prophet sent from God to preach a community of women and possessions, since all men were brothers and descended from the same common parents. This he imagined would put an end to all feuds and quarrels among men, which generally arose on ac- count of one of the two. Kobad himself embraced the opinions of this impostor, to whom he gave leave, according to his new doctrine, to lie with the queen his wife ; which permission Anushirwan, his son, with much difficulty prevailed on Mazdak not to make use of. These sects had certainly been the immediate ruin of the Persian empire, had not Anu- shirwan, as soon as he succeeded his father, put Mazdak to death with all his followers, and tlie Maniclieans also, restoring the ancient Magian re- ligion-. In the reign of this prince, deservedly surnamed the just, Moliammed was born. He was the last king of Persia who deserved the throne, which after him was almost perpetually contended for, till subverted by the Arabs. His son Hormiiz lost the love of his su]>Jects by his excessive cruelty : having had his eyes put out l^y his wife's brothers, he was ' Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens, vol. i. p. ly, &c. ■-' V. Poc Spec. p. "JO. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINAKY DISCOURSE. ,51 obliged to resign the crown to his son Khosru Par- v'iz, who at the instigation of Bahram Chubin had rebelled against him, and was afterwards strangled. Parviz was soon obliged to quit the throne to Bah- ram ; but obtaining succours of the Greek emperor Maurice, he recovered the crown : yet towards the latter end of a long reign he grew so tyrannical and hateful to his subjects, that they held private cor- respondence with the Arabs ; and he was at length deposed, imprisoned, and slain by his son Shiruyeh '. After Parviz no less than six princes possessed the throne in less than six years. These domestic broils effectually brought ruin upon the Persians ; for though they did, rather by the weakness of the Greeks than their own force, ravage Syria and sack Jerusalem and Damascus under Khosrii Parviz ; and, while the Arabs were divided and independent, had some power in the province of Yaman, where they set up the four last kings before Mohammed ; yet when attacked by the Greeks under Heraclius, they not only lost their new conquests, but part of their own dominions, and no sooner were the Arabs united by Mohammedism, than they beat tliem in every battle, and in a few years totally subdued them. As these empires were weak and declining, so Arabia, at Mohammed's setting up, was strong and flourishing ; having been peopled at the expense of the Grecian empire, wlience the violent proceedings of the domineering sects forced many to seek refuge in a free country, as Arabia then was, where they, who could not enjoy tranquillity and their con- science at home, found a secure retreat. The Ara- bians were not only a populous nation, but unac- quainted with the luxury and delicacies of the Greeks and Persians, and inured to hardships of all sorts ; living in a most parsimonious manner, sel- dom eating any flesh, drinking no wine, and sitting ' v. Tcixeira, Relaciones lie was not his eldest son. as Dr. Prideaux tells us ; whose reflections built on that foundation must necessarily fail (see his life of Mahomet, p. .9.) ; r.or yet his younj^Cot son, as M. d(^ Bmilainvillicrs (\'ic dc 3I;ilioniii:cd, p. 182, Sec.) supposes ; for Ilamza and al Abbas wore both younger than Abd'allah. » Abulfeda, Vit. Mohani. p. 2. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 53 mother, to provide for him for the future ; which he very affectionately did, and instructed him in the business of a merchant, which he followed ; and to that end he took him with him into Syria when he was but thirteen, and afterward recommended liim to Khadijah, a noble and rich widow, for her factor, in whose service he behaved himself so well, that by making him her husband she soon raised him to an equality with the richest in Mecca. After he began by this advantageous match to live at his ease it was that he formed the scheme of esta- blishing a new religion, or, as he expressed it, of replanting the only true and ancient one, professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets ', by destroying the gross idolatry into which the generality of his countiymen had fallen, and weeding out the corruptions and superstitions which the latter Jews and Christians had, as he thought, introduced into their religion, and reducing it to its original purity, which consisted chiefly in the worship of one only God. Whether this was the effect of enthusiasm, or only a design to raise himself to the supreme government of his country, I will not pretend to determine. The latter is the general opinion of Christian writers, who agree that ambition and the desire of satisfying his sensuality were the motives of his undertaking. It may be so ; yet his first views perhaps were not so interested. His original design of bringing the pagan Arabs to the knowledge of the true God was certainly noble, and highly to be commended ; for I cannot possibly subscribe to the assertion of a late learned writer-, that he made that nation exchange their idolatry for another religion altogether as bad. Mohammed was no doubt fully satisfied in his con- science of the truth of his grand point, the unity of God, which was what he chiefly attended to ; all his ' See Koiin, c. 2. « Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, r- 7('. 54 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [ScC't. 2. other doctrines and institutions being- rather acci- dental and unavoidable, than premeditated and de- signed. Since then jMohamnied was certainly liimself per- suaded of his grand article of faith, which in his opinion was violated by all the rest of the world ; not only by the idolaters, but l)y the Christians, as Avell those who rightly worshipped Jesus as God, as those who superstitiously adored the Virgin Mary, saints, and images ; and also by the Jev\'s, who are accused in the Koran of taking Ezra for the Son of God ' ; it is easy to conceive that he might think it a meritorious work to rescue the world from such ignorance and superstition ; and by degrees, with the help of a warm imagination, Avhich an Arab sel- dom wants', to suppose himself destined by Pro- vidence for the effecting that great reformation. And this fancy of his might take still deeper root in his mind, tluring the solitude he thereupon affected, usually retiring for a month in the year to a cave in Mount Hara near Mecca. One thing which may be probably urged against the enthusiasm of this pro- phet of the Arabs, is the wise conduct and great prudence lie all along showed in pursuing his design, which seem inconsistent with the wild notions of a hot-brained religionist. But though all enthusiasts or madmen do not behave with the same gravity and circumspection that he did, yet he will not be the first instance, by several, of a person who has been out of the way only quoad /ioc, and in all other re- spects acted Avith the greatest decency and precau- tion. The terrible destruction of the eastern churclies, once so glorious and flourishing, by the sudden spreading of Mohannnedism, and the great successes of its professors against the Christians, necessarily inspire a horror of that religion in those to whom it •Koriin, c. 9. - Sec Casaub. otEiithusias.ni, p. 118. Sect. 2.] THE I'llELIMINAllY DlSCOUllSE. 55 has been so fatal ; and no wonder if they endeavour to set the character of its founder, and its doctrines, in the most infamous light. But the damage done by Mohammed to Christianity seems to have been rather owing to his ignorance than malice ; for his great misfortune was, his not having a competent knowledge of the real and pure doctrines of the Christian religion, which was in his time so abomi- nably corrupted, that it is not surprising if he went too far, and resolved to abolish what he might think incapable of reformation. It is scarce to be doubted but that Mohammed had a violent desire of being reckoned an extraordi- nary person, which he could attain to by no means more effectually than by pretending to be a mes- senger sent from God, to inform mankind of his will. This might be at first his utmost ambition, and had his fellow citizens treated him less injuriously, and not obliged him by their persecutions to seek refuge elsewhere, and to take up arms against them in his own defence, he had perhaps continued a private person, and contented himself with the veneration and respect due to his prophetical office ; but being once got at the head of a little army, and encouraged by success, it is no wonder if he raised his thoughts to attempt what had never before entered into his imagination. That Mohammed was, as the Arabs are by com- plexion ', a great lover of women, we are assured by his own confession ; and he is constantly upbraided vrith it by the controversial writers, who fail not to urge the number of women with whom he had to do as a demonstrative argument of his sensuality, which they think sufficiently proves him to have been a wicked man, and consequently an impostor. But it must be considered, that polygamy, though it be for- bidden by the Christian religion, was in Mohammed'^ ' Ammian, MarccU. 1. 14, c. 4. 56 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 53. time frequently practised in Arabia and other parts of the East, and was not counted an inniiorality, nor Avas a man the worse esteemed on that account ; for which reason Mohammed permitted the pkiralitj'- of wives, with certain limitations, among his own fol- lowers, who argue for the lawfulness of it from several reasons, and particularly from the examples of persons alloAved on all hands to have been good men ; some of whom have been honoured with the divine correspondence. The several laws relating to marriages and divorces, and the peculiar privileges granted to Mohammed in his Koran, were almost all taken by him from the Jev/ish decisions, as will ap- pear hereafter ; and therefore he might think those institutions the more just and reasonable, as he found them practised or approved by the professors of a religion which was confessedly of divine original. But whatever ^vere his motives, JNIohammed had certainly the personal qualifications which were ne- cessary to accomplish his undertaking. The JNIo- hammedan authors are excessive in their commenda- tions of him, and speak much of his religious and moral virtues ; as his piety, veracity, justice, libe- rality, clemency, humility, and abstinence. His charity in particular, they say, was so conspicuous, that he had seldom any money in his house, keeping no more for his own use than was just sufficient to maintain his family ; and he frequently spared even some part of his own provisions to supply the neces- sities of the poor ; so that before the year's end he had generally little or nothing left ' : " God," says al Bokliari, " olfered him the keys of the treasures of the earth, but he would not accept them." Though the eulogies of these writers are justly to be sus- pected of partiality, yet thus much, I think, may be inferred from thence, that for an Arab who had been educated in paganism, and had but a very im- • V. Abu'lfetla \'n. Moliaiii. p. Ml, .S;c. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 57 perfect knowledge of his duty, lie was a man of at least tolerable morals, and not such a monster of wickedness as he is usually represented. And, in- deed, it is scarce possible to conceive that a Av^retch of so profligate a character should ever have suc- ceeded in an enterprise of this nature ; a little hypocrisy and saving of appearances, at least, must have been absolutely necessary; and the sincerity of his intentions is what I pretend not to inquire into. He had indisputably a very piercing and sagacious wit, and was thoroughly versed in all the arts of in- sinuation'. The eastern historians describe him to have been a man of an excellent judgment, and a happy memory ; and these natural parts were im- proved by a great experience and knowledge of men, and the observations he had made in his travels. They say he was a person of few words, of an equal, cheerful temper, pleasant and familiar in conversa- tion, of inoffensive behaviour towards his friends, and of great condescension towards his inferiors'. To all which were joined a comely, agreeable person, and a polite address ; accomplishments of no small service in preventing those in his favour whom he attempted to persuade. As to acquired learning, it is confessed he had none at all ; having had no other education than what was customary in his tribe, who neglected, and perhaps despised, what we call literature ; esteem- ing no language in comparison with their own, their skill in which they gained by use and not by books, and contenting themselves with improving their pri- vate experience by committing to memory such jiass- ages of their poets as they judged might be of use to them in life. This defect was so far from being prejudicial or putting a stop to his design, that he made the greatest use of it; insisting that the > V. Prid. Lite of Mahomet, p. \0o. ^ V. Abult'ed. ubi sup. 58 THE niELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [SeCt. 2. writings whicli lie produced as revelations from God, could not possibly be a forgery of his own ; because it was not conceivable that a person who could neither write nor read should be able to compose a book of such excellent doctrine, and in so elegant a style ; and thereby obviating an objection that might have carried a great deal of weight \ And for this reason his fol- lowers, instead of being ashamed of their master's ignorance, glory in it as an evident proof of his divine mission, and scruple not to call him (as he is indeed called in the Koran itself ) the illiterate prophet. The scheme of religion which Mohammed framed, and the design and artful contrivance of those written revelations (as he pretended them to be) which com- pose his Koran, shall be the subject of the following sections : I shall, therefore, in the remainder of this relate, as briefly as possible, the steps he took to- wards the eifecting of his enterj^rise, and the accidents which concurred to his success therein. Before he made any attempt abroad, he rightly judged that it was necessary for him to begin by the conversion of his own household. Having therefore retired with his family, as he had done several times before, to the above-mentioned cave in mount Hara, he there opened the secret of his mission to his wife Kha- dijah; and acquainted her that the angel Gabriel had just before appeared to him, and told him that he M^as appointed the apostle of God : he also repeated to lier a passage^ which he pretended had been revealed to him by the ministry of the angel, with those other circumstances of his first appearance which are re- lated by the Mohammedan writers. Khadijah re- ceived the news with great joy'; swearing by him in wliose hands her soul was, that she trusted he would be the prophet of his nation : and innnediately " Sec Koran, chnp. 2f). Prid. Life of I\Iah. p. 2C, &.c. ^ Chap. 7- •^ This passage is gcncndly aj^ced to be the first five verses of the Dfith chapter. ■• I do not remember to have read in any eastern author, that Khadijali ever ic- jci-led her liiisband's pretences as I'.chisions, or suhpeeted him of any imposture. Vet bCC I'rideaux's Life of iVJaliomct, p. 11, &:c. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 59 communicated Vv^hat she had heard to her cousin Warakah Ebn Nawfal, who, being a Christian, could write in the Hebrew character, and was tolerably- well versed in the Scriptures ^ ; and he as readily came into her opinion, assuring her that the same anp-el who had formerly appeared unto Moses was now sent to Mohammed'. This first overture the prophet made in the month of Ramadan, in the fortieth year of his age, which is therefore usually called the year of his mission. Encouraged by so good a beginning, he resolved to proceed, and try for some time what he could do by private persuasion, not daring to hazard the whole affair by exposing it too suddenly to the public. He soon made proselytes of those under his own roof, viz. his wife Khadijah, his servant Zeid Ebn Hare- tha (to whom he gave his freedom' on that occasion, which afterwards became a rule to his followers), and his cousin and pupil Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, though then very young : but this last, making no account of the other two, used to style himself the first of believers. The next person Mohammed ap- plied to was Abdallah Ebn Abi Kohafa, surnamed Abu Beer, a man of great authority among the Koreish, and one whose interest he well knew would be of great service to him, as it soon appeared ; for Abu Beer being gained over, prevailed also on 0th- man Ebn Affan, Abd'alrahman Ebn Awf, Saad Ebn Abi Wakkas, al Zobeir Ebn al Awam, and Telha Ebn Obeid allah, all principal men in Mecca, to follow his example. These men were the six chief com- panions, who, with a few more, were converted in the space of three years ; at the end of which Mo- hammed having, as he hoped, a sufficient interest to support him, made his mission no longer a secret, but gave out that God had commanded him to ad- 1 v. Poc. Spec. p. 157. - V. Abulfed. Vit. Moham. p. IG. Where llie learned translator has mistaken the meaning of this passage. ^ For he was his purchased slave, as Abult'wla expressly tells us; and not his ccusm german, as Sir. de Boulainvilliers asserts (Vic de Mah. p. '-'73). ■t. 60 THE PRELIMINAKY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. monish liis near relations', and in order to do it with more convenience and prospect of success, he directed Ali to prepare an entertainment, and invite the sons and descendants of Abd'ahnotalleb, intending tlien to open his mind to them ; this A^as done, and about forty of them came, but Abu Lalieb, one of his uncles, making the company break up before INlohammed had an opportunity of speaking, obliged hiui to give them a second invitation the next day ; and when they were come, he made them the following speech: " I know no man in all Arabia who can oiler his kindred a more excellent thing than I now do you ; I offer you happiness both in this life, and in that which is to come : God Almighty hath commanded me to call you unto him ; who, therefore, among you will be assisting to me herein, and become my brother, and my vicegerent ?" All of them hesitating, and declining the matter, Ali at length rose up, and de- clared that he vrould be his assistant ; and vehemently threatened those who should oppose him. Mohannned upon this embraced Ali with great demonstrations of affection, and desired all \\'ho were present to hearken to and obey him as his deputy ; at which the com- pany broke out into great laughter, telling Abu Taleb that he must now pay obedience to his son. This repulse, however, was so far from discouraging Mohammed, that he began to preach in public to the people, who heard him with some patience, till he came to upbraid them with the idolatry, obstinacy, and perverseness of themselves and their fathers ; which so highly provoked them, that they declared themselves his enemies, and would soon have pro- cured his ruin, had he not been protected by Abu Taleb. Tlie chief of the Koreish warmly solicited this person to desert his nephew, making frequent remonstrances against the innovations he was at- tempting ; which ])roving ineffectual, they at length threatened him with an open rupture if he did not ' Koran, c. 74. See tlie notes thereon. Sect. 2.] THE rPtELIMlNAKY DISCOURSE. 61 prevail on Mohammed to desist. At this Abu Taleb was so far moved that he earnestly dissuaded his nephew from pursuing the affair any farther, repre- sentino' the great danger he and his friends must othervvise run. But Mohammed was not to be in- timidated, telling his uncle plainly, that if they set the sun against him on his right hand, and the moon on his left, he would not leave his enterprise : and Abu Taleb, seeing him so firmly resolved to proceed, used no further arguments, but promised to stand by him against all his enemies '. The Koreish finding they could prevail neither by fair words nor menaces, tried what they could do by force and ill treatment ; using Mohammed's followers so very injuriously that it was not safe for them to continue at IMecca any longer ; whereupon Moham- med gave leave to such of them as had not friends to protect them to seek for refuge elsewhere. And accordingly in the fifth year of the prophet's mission, sixteen of them, four of whom were women, fled into Ethiopia ; and among tliem Othman Ebn Affan and his wife Rakiali, Mohammed's daughter. This was the first flight ; but afterwards several others followed them, retiring one after another, to the number of eighty-three men and eighteen women, besides chil- dren'-. These refugees were kindly received by the Najaslii ', or king of Ethiopia, who refused to deliver them up to those whom the Koreish sent to demand them, and as the Arab writers unanimously attest, even professed the Mohammedan religion. In the sixth year of his mission^ Mohammed had the pleasure of seeing his party strengthened by the conversion of his uncle Hamza, a man of great valour and merit, and of Omar Ebn al Khattab, a person highly esteemed, and once a violent opposer of the prophet. As persecution generally advances rather > Abulia ubi supra. ^ Idem, Ebn Shchnah. ^ ^^^F^TIT^J^^Z I take tms worci tor a pro every king of this country. to take tWs word for a proper name, but it is only the title the Arabs give to country. See his Life of Blahomet, p. 55. < hb-A bhohnah. G'2 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 9. than obstructs the spreading of a relii^ion, Islaniisiu made so great a progress among the Arab tribes, that the Koreish, to suppress it effectually, if possible, in the seventh year of Mohammed's mission ', made a solemn league or covenant against the Hashemites and the family of Al Motalleb, engaging themselves to contract no marriages with any of them, and to have no communication with them ; and to give it the greater sanction, reduced it into writing, and laid it up in the Caaba. Upon this the tribe became di- vided into two factions ; and the family of Hashem all repaired to Abu Taleb, as their head, except only Abd'al Uzza, surnamed Abu Lalieb, who, out of his inveterate hatred to his nephew and his doctrine, went over to the opposite party, v/hose chief was Abu Soiian Ebn Harb, of the family of Onnneya. The families continued thus at variance for three years ; but in the tenth year of his mission, Mo- hammed told his uncle Abu Taleb, that God had manifestly showed his disapprobation of the league which the Koreish had made against them, by send- ing a worm to eat out every word of the instrument except the name of God. Of this accident Mohannned had probably some private notice, for Abu Taleb went immediately to the Koreish and acquainted them with it ; offering, if it proved false, to deliver his nephew up to them ; but in case it were true, he insisted that they ought to lay aside their animosity, and annul the league they had made against the Hashemites. To this they acquiesced, and, going to inspect the writing, to their great astonishment found it to be as Abu Taleb had said ; and the league Avas thereupon declared void. In the same year Abu Taleb died, at the age of above fourscore ; and it is the general o])inion that he died an infidel, though others say, that when he A\'as at the point of death he embraced Moham- medism, and produce some passages out of his poetical ' Al Jaimabi. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 63 compositions to confirm their assertion. About a month, or, as some write, three days after the death of this great benefactor and patron, Mohammed had the additional mortification to lose his wife Khadijah, who had so generously made his fortime. For which reason this year is called the year of mourning i. On the death of these two persons, the Koreish began to be more troublesome than ever to their prophet, and especially some who had formerly been his intimate friends ; insomuch that he found him- self obliged to seek for shelter elsewhere, and first pitched upon Tayef, about sixty miles east from Mecca, for the place of his retreat. Thither there- fore he went, accompanied by his servant Zeid, and applied himself to two of the chief of the tribe of Thakif, v/ho were the inhabitants of that place, but they received him very coldly. However, he stayed there a month ; and some of the more considerate and better sort of men treated him with a little re- spect : but the slaves and inferior people at length rose against him, and bringing him to the wall of the city, obliged him to depart, and return to Mecca, where he put himself under the protection of al Mo- taam Ebn Adi '. This repulse greatly discouraged his followers : however, Mohammed was not wanting to himself, but boldly continued to preach to the public assem- blies at the pilgrimage, and gained several proselytes, and among them six of the inhabitants of Yathreb of the Jewish Tribe of Khazraj, who, on their return home, failed not to speak much in commendation of their new religion, and exhorted their fellow-citizens to embrace the same. In the twelfth year of his mission it was that Mohammed gave out that he had made his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to heaven % so much spoken of by all that write of him. • Abulfed. p. 28. Ebn Shohnah. = Ebn Shohnah. ^ See the notes on the 17th chap, of the Koran. 64 THE PnELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. Dr. Prideaux ' thinks he invented it either to ans\ver the expectations of those who demanded some miracle as a jjroof of his mission ; or else, by pretending to have conversed witli God, to establish the authority of whatever he should think fit to leave behind by Vv'ay of oral tradition, and make his sayings to serve the same purpose as the oral law of the Jews. J5ut I do not find that Mohammed himself ever expected so great a regard should be paid to his sayings as his followers have since done : and seeing he all along disclaimed any power of performing miracles, it seems rather to have been a fetch of policy to raise his reputation, by pretending to have actually con- versed Avith God in heaven, as Moses had heretofore done on the mount, and to have received several in- stitutions immediately from him, 'whereas before he contented himself with persuading them that he had all by the ministry of Gal)riel. However, this story seemed so absurd and in- credible that several of his followers left him upon it, and it had probably ruined the whole design, had not Abu Beer vouched for its veracit}% and declared that if Mohammed affirmed it to be true, he verily believed the whole. Which happy incident not only retrieved tlie prophet's credit, but increased it to such a degree, that he \vas secure of being able to make his disciples swallow whatever he j^leased to impose on them for the future. And I am apt to think this fiction, notwithstanding its extravagance, was one of the most artful contrivances IMohammed ever put in practice, and what chiefly contributed to the raising of his reputation to that great height to which it afterwards arrived. In this year, called by the Mohammedans the ac- cepted year, twelve men of Yathreb or Medina, of whom ten were of the tribe of Khazraj, and the other two of that of Am's, came to Mecca, and took an oath of fidelity to Mohammed at al Akaba, a hill on the ' Life of Mahomet, p. 41, 51, &c. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 65 north of that city. This oath was called the wo- meiis' oath ; not that any women were present at this time, but because a man was not thereby obliged to take up arms in defence of Mohammed or his re- ligion ; it being the same oath that was afterwards exacted of the women, the form of which we have in tlie Koran', and is to this effect, viz. — " That they should renounce all idolatry ; that they should not steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their chil- dren (as the pagan Arabs used to do when they ap- prehended they should not be able to maintain them -), nor forge calumnies ; and that they should obey the prophet in all things that were reasonable." When they had solemnly engaged to do all this, Moham- med sent one of his disciples, named Masiib Ebn Omair, home with them, to instruct them more fully in the grounds and ceremonies of his new religion. Masab, being arrived at Medina, by the assistance of those who had been formerly converted, gained several proselytes, particularly Osaid Ebn Hodeira, a chief man of the city, and Saad Ebn Mo:idh, prince of the tribe of Aws ; Mohammedism spreading so fast, that there was scarce a house wherein there were not some who had embraced it. The next year, being the thirteenth of Moham- med's mission, Masab returned to Mecca, accom- panied by seventy-three men and two women of Medina who had professed Islamism, besides some others who were as yet unbelievers. On their arrival, they immediately sent to Mohammed, and offered him their assistance, of which he was now in great need, for his adversaries were by this time grown so powerful in Mecca, that he could not stay there much longer without imminent danger. Where- fore he accepted their proposal, and met them one night, by appointment, at al Akaba above men- tioned, attended by his uncle al Abbas, who, though ' Cap. CO. ^ V. Korau, c. 6. VOL. I. F 66 THE PllELIiMINAIlY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. he was not then a believer, wished his nephew well, and made a speech to those of Medina, M'herein he told them, that as Mohammed was obliged to quit his native city, and seek an asylum else\vhere, and they had offered him their protection, they would do well not to deceive him ; and that if they were not firmly resolved to defend and not ])etray him, they had better declare their minds, and let him provide for his safety in some other manner. Upon their protesting their sincerity, Mohammed swore to be faithful to them ; on condition that they should pro- tect him against all insults, as heartily as they would their own wives and families. They then asked him what recompense they were to expect if they should happen to be killed in his quarrel ; he an- swered paradise. Whereupon they pledged their faith to him, and so returned home ' ; after Moham- med had chosen twelve out of their number, who were to have the same authority among them as the twelve apostles of Christ had among his disciples'-. Hitherto Mohammed had propagated his religion by fair means, so that the -whole success of his enter- prise before his flight to Medina must be attributed to persuasion only, and not to compulsion. For be- fore this second oath of fealty or inauguration at al Akaba, he had no permission to use any force at all ; and in several places of the Koran, Avhich he pre- tended were revealed during his stay at Mecca, he declares his business was only to preach and ad- monish, that he had no authority to compel any person to embrace his religion ; and that whether people believed, or not, was none of his concern, but belonged solely unto God. And he was so far from allowing his followers to use force, that lie exliorted them to bear patiently those injuries wliich were offered them on account of their faith ; and when persecuted himself, chose rather to quit the place of • Ahulfeda. Vit. :\rohmii. p. 40, ^:c. - Ebn Isliak. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 67 his birth and retire to Medina, than to make any resistance. But this great passiveness and modera- tion seems entirely owing to his want of power, and the great superiority of his opposers for the first twelve years of his mission ; for no sooner was he enabled, by the assistance of those of Medina, to make head against his enemies, than he gave out, that God had allowed him and his followers to de- fend themselves against the infidels ; and at length, as his forces increased, he pretended to have the divine leave even to attack them ; and to destroy idolatry, and set up the true faith by the sword ; finding, by experience, that his designs would other- wise proceed very slowly, if they were not utterly overthrown ; and knowing on the other hand that innovators, when they depend solely on their own strength, and can compel, seldom run any risk; from whence, the politician observes, it follows, that all the armed prophets have succeeded, and the un- armed ones have failed. Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus would not have been able to establish the observance of their institutions for any length of time, had they not been armed'. The first passage of the Koran which gave Mohammed the permission of defending himself by arms is said to have been that in the twenty-second chapter ; after which a great number to the same purpose were revealed. That Mohammed had a right to take up arms for his own defence against his unjust persecutors, may perhaps be allowed; but whether he ought after- wards to have made use of that means for the esta- blishing of his religion is a question I will not here determine. How far the secular power may or ought to interpose in affairs of this nature, mankind are not agreed. The method of converting by the sword gives no very favourable idea of the faith which is so propagated, and is disallowed by every ' Machiavelli, Princ. c. (i. F 2 68 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. body in those of another religion, though the same persons are willing to admit of it for the advance- ment of their own ; supposing that though a false religion ought not to be established by authoi'ity, yet a true one may; and accordingly force is almost as constantly employed in these cases by those who have the power in their hands, as it is constantly complained of by those who suffer the violence. It is certainly one of the most convincing proofs that Mohammedism was no other than a human inven- tion, that it owed its progress and establishment almost entirely to the SAvord ; and it is one of the strongest demonstrations of the divine original of Christianity, that it prevailed against all the force and jwwers of the world by the mere dint of its own truth, after having stood the assaults of all manner of persecutions, as well as other oppositions, for three hundred years together, and at length made the Ro- man emperors themselves submit thereto ' ; after which time indeed this proof seems to fail, Chris- tianity being then established and Paganism abolished by public authority, which has had great influence in the propagation of the one and destruction of the other ever since". But to return. Mohammed having provided for tlie security of bis companions as well as his own, by the league offensive and defensive which he had now concluded with those of Medina, directed them to repair thither, which they accordingly did ; but himself with Abu Beer and Ali staid behind, having not yet received the divine permission, as he pretended, to leave Mecca. The Koreish fearing the consequence of this new alliance, began to think it absolutely necessary to prevent Mohammed's escape to Medina, and having held a council thereon, after several milder expe- dients had been rejected, they came to a resolution that he should be killed ; and agreed that a man ' Sec Prideaux's Letter to the Deists, p. 220, A:c. '^ See IJayle's Diet. Hist. Art. MalioiDct, Rem. O. ect. Q.] THE PilELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 69 should be chosen out of every tribe for the execution of this design, and that etich man should have a blow at him with his sword, that the guilt of his blood might fall equally on all the tribes, to whose united power the Hashemites were much inferior, and therefore durst not attempt to revenge their kins- man's death. This conspiracy was scarce formed when by some means or other it came to Mohammed's knowledge, and he gave out that it was revealed to him by the angel Gabriel, who had now ordered him to retire to Medina. Whereupon, to amuse his enemies, he directed Ali to lie down in his place and wrap him- self up in his green cloak, which he did, and Mo- hammed escaped miraculously, as they pretend ', to Abu Beer's house, unperceived by the conspira- tors, who had already assembled at the prophet's door. They in the mean time, looking through the crevice and seeing Ali, whom they took to be Mo- hammed himself, asleep, continued watching there till morning, when Ali arose and they found them- selves deceived. From Abu Beer's house Mohammed and he went to a cave in mount Thur, to the south-east of Mecca, accompanied only by Amer Ebn Foheirah, Abu Beer's servant, and Abd'allah Ebn Oreikat, an idola- ter, whom they had hired for a guide. In this cave they lay hid three days to avoid the search of their enemies, which they very narrowly escaped, and not without the assistance of more miracles than one ; for some say that the Koreish were struck with blindness, so that they could not find the cave ; others, that after Mohammed and his companions were got in, two pigeons laid their eggs at the entrance, and a spider covered the mouth of the cave with her web ', which made them look no far- ' See the notes to chap. C, and 3(J. - It is observable that the Jews have a like tradition concerning David, when he fled from Saul into the cave ; and the Targum paraphrases these words of the second verse of Psalm Ivii, 70 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [SeCt. 2. ther '. Abu Beer seeing the prophet in such imminent danger became very sorrowful, whereupon Moham- med comforted him with these words, recorded in the Koran-, — " Be not grieved, for God is with us." Their enemies being retired, they left the cave and set out for Medina, by a by-road, and having fortu- nately, or as the Mohammedans tell us, miraculously, escaped some who were sent to pursue them, ar- rived safely at that city; v/hither Ali followed them in three days, after he had settled some affairs at Mecca '. The first thing Mohammed did after his arrival at Medina was to build a temple for his religious worship ; and a house for himself, which he did on a parcel of ground which had before served to put camels in, or as others tell us, for a burying ground, and belonged to Sahal and Soheil the sons of Amru, who were orphans'. This action Dr. Prideaux ex- claims against, representing it as a flagrant instance of injustice, for that, says he, he violently dispos- sessed these poor orphans, the sons of an inferior artificer (whom the author he quotes^ calls a car- penter) of this ground, and so founded the first fabric of his worship with the like wickedness as he did his religion". But to say nothing of the im- probability that Mohammed should act in so im- politic a manner at his first coming, the IMoham- medan writers set this affair in a quite different light ; one tells us that he treated with the lads about the price of the ground, but they desired he would accept it as a present' ; however, as historians of good credit assure us, he actually bought it', and the money was paid by Abu Beer '. Besides, had Mo- (which was composed on occasion of that deliverance) " I will pray before tlie most high God that performeth all things for me," in this manner ; "■ I will pray before the most high God, who called a spider to weave a web for my sake in the mouth of the cave." ' Al Beidawi in Kor. c. !). V. d'Hcrbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 445. - Cap. 9. ^ Abulfeda Vit. Moh. p. 50, 6cc. Ebn Shohnah. " Abulfeda, ib. p. 52, o'A. ■ Disputatio Christiaiii contra Saracen, c. 4. '■■ Pridcaux's hfe of ]\Iahoniet, p. 58. ' Al Bokhiiri in Sonna. « Al Jannabi. ' Ahmed Ebn Yusef. Sect. 2.] THE rilELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 71 hammed accepted it as a present, the orphans were in circumstances sufficient to have afforded it ; for they were of a very good family, of the trihe of Najjar, one of the most iUustrious among the Arabs, and not the sons of a carpenter, as Dr. Prideaux's. author writes, who took the word Najjar, v/hich sig- nifies a carpenter, for an appellative, whereas it is a proper name\ Mohammed being securely settled at Medina, and able not only to defend himself against the insults of his enemies, but to attack them, began to send out small parties to make reprisals on the Koreish ; the first party consisting of no more than nine men, who intercepted and plundered a caravan belonging to that tribe, and in the action took two prisoners. But what established his affairs very much, and was the foundation on which he built all his succeeding greatness, was the gaining of the battle of Bedr, which was fought in the second year of the Hejra, and is so famous in the Mohammedan history '. As my design is not to write the life of Mohammed, but only to describe the manner in which he carried on his enterprise, I shall not enter into any detail of his subsequent battles and expeditions, which amounted to a considerable number. Some reckon no less than twenty-seven expeditions v/herein Mohammed was personally present, in nine of which he gave battle, besides several other expeditions in which he was not present': some of them however will be necessarily taken notice of in explaining several pass- ages of the Koran. His forces he maintained partly by the contributions of his followers for this purpose, which he called by the name of Zacat or alms, and the paying of which he very artfully made one main article of his religion ; and partly by ordering a fifth part of the plunder to be brought into the public treasury for that purpose, in which ' v. Gasnicr, Not. in Abulfcd. de Vita IMoh. p. 52, 53. " Sec the notes on the Koran, chap. ;j. p 52. '^ V. Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 158. 72 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2. matter he likewise pretended to act by the divine di- rection. In a few years, by the success of his arms (not- withstanding he sometimes came off by the worst), he considerably raised his credit and power. In the sixth year of the Hejra he set out with one thousand four hundred men to visit the temple of Mecca, not with any intent of committing liostilities, but in a peaceable manner. However when he came to al Hodeibiya, which is situate partly within and partly without the sacred territory, the Koreish sent to let him know that they would not permit him to enter Mecca, unless he forced his way ; whereupon he called his troops about him, and they all took a solemn oath of fealty or homage to him, and he resolved to attack the city ; but those of Mecca sending Arwa Ebn Masud '^ , prince of the tribe of Thakif, as their embassador to desire peace, a truce was concluded between them for ten years, by which any person was allowed to enter into league either with Mo- hammed or with the Koreish as he thought fit. It may not be improper, to show the inconceivable veneration and respect the Mohammedans by this time had for their prophet, to mention the account which the above-mentioned embassador gave the Koreish, at his return, of their behaviour. He said he had been at the courts both of the Roman emperor and of the king of Persia, and never saw any prince so highly respected by his subjects as Mohannned was by his companions ; for whenever he made the ablu- tion, in order to say his prayers, they ran and catched the water that he had used ; and whenever he spit, they immediately licked it up, and gathered up every hair that fell from him with great superstition '. In the seventh year of the Hejra Mohannned began to think of j)ropagating his religion beyond * This is erroiicoiis. Tlie ambassador wn^ Sohail Ebn Aniru. Sec note, chap. -IS. ' Abulfcda Vit. Moh p. i>o. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINxMlY DISCOURSE. 73 the bounds of Arabia, and sent messengers to the neighbouring princes with letters to invite them to Mohammedism. Nor was this project without some success. Khosru Par viz, then king of Persia, re- ceived his letter with great disdain, and tore it in a passion, sending away the messenger very abruptly ; which, when Mohammed heard, he said, God shall tear his kingdom. And soon after a messenger came to Mahommed from Badhan king of Yaman, who was a dependant on the Persians ^ to acquaint him that he had received orders to send him to Khosru. Mohammed put off his answer till the next morning, and then told the messenger it had been revealed to him that night that Khosru was slain by his son Shiruyeh ; adding that he was well assured his new religion and empire should rise to as great a height as that of Khosru ; and therefore bid him advise his master to embrace Mohammedism. The m.essens:er being returned, Eadhan in a few days received a letter from Shiruyeh informing him of his father's death, and ordering him to give the prophet no further dis- turbance. Whereupon Badhan and the Persians with him turned Mohammedans -. The emperor Heraclius, as the Arabian historians assure us, received Mohammed's letter with great respect, laying it on his pillow, and dismissed the bearer honourably. And some pretend that he would have professed this n@w faith, had he not been afraid of losing his crown '. Mohammed wrote to the same effect to the king of Etliiopia, though he had been converted before, according to the Arab writers ; and to Mokawkas, governor of Egypt, wlio gave the messenger a very favourable reception, and sent several valuable pre- sents to Mohammed, and among the rest two girls, one of which, named Mary ', became a great favourite ' See before, p. 14. " Abulfeda Vit. J\io!i. p. 92, &c. ^ Al Jannabi: * It is however a diflfereiU name from that of the Virgin I\Iary, which the Ori- entals always write Ptlaryam or Miriam, whereas t!;is is written 3Iariya. 74 THE rUEI.IMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sett. 2. watli hini. He also sent letters of the like purport to several Arab princes, particularly one to al Haretli Ebn Abi Shainer ' king of Ghassan, who returning for answer that he would go to IMohanimed himself, the prophet said, May his kingdom perish ; another to Hawdha Ebn Ali, king of Yamama, \v^ho was a Christian, and having some time before professed Islamism, had lately returned to his former faith ; this j)rince sent back a very rough answer, upon which, Mohammed cursing him, he died soon after ; and a third to al Mondar Ebn Sawa, king of Bahrein, who embraced Mohammedism, and all the Arabs of that country followed his example \ The eighth year of the Hejra was a very fortunate year to Mohammed. In the beginning of it Khaled Ebn al Walid and Amru Ebn al As, both excellent soldiers, the first of whom afterwards conquered Syria and other countries, and the latter, Egypt, became proselytes of Mohammedism. And soon after the prophet sent three thousand men against the Grecian forces, to revenge the death of one of his embassa- dors, who being sent to the governor of Bosra on the same errand as those who went to the above-men- tioned princes, was slain by an Arab of the tribe of Gliassan at Muta, a town in the territory of Balka in Syria, about three days' journey eastward from Jerusalem, near which town they encountered. The Grecians being vastly su})erior in number (for, in- cluding the auxiliary Arabs, they had an army of one hundred thousand men), the Mohammedans were repulsed in the first attack, and lost successively three of their generals, viz. Zeid Ebn Haretha, Moham- med's freed man, Jaafar the son of Abu Taleb, and Abdallah Ebn Rawaha ; but Khaled Ebn al Walid succeeding to the command overthrew the Greeks with a great slaughter, and brought away abundance of rich spoil ; on occasion of which action Moham- ' This prince is oniiltal in Dr. Pocock's list of the kings of Ghassun, Spec, p. 77. - Abulfcda, ubi sup. p. Ul, iJcC. ^ Idem ib. p. 1)9, 100, &c. Sect. 2.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 75 med gave him the honourable title of Self min soyuf Allah, one of the swords of God '. In this year also Mohammed took the city of Mecca, the inhabitants whereof had broken the truce concluded on two years before. For the tribe of Beer, who were confederates of the Koreish, attack- ing those of Khozaah, who were allies of Mohammed, killed several of them, being supported in the action by a party of the Koreish themselves. The conse- quence of this violation was soon apprehended ; and Abu Sofian himself made a journey to Medina on purpose to heal the breach and renew the truce ' ; but in vain; for Mohammed, glad of this opportunity, refused to see him ; whereupon he applied to Abu Beer and Ali, but they giving him no answer, he was obliged to return to Mecca as he came. Mohammed immediately gave orders for prepara- tions to be made, that he might surprise the Meccans while they were unprovided to receive him : in a little time he began his march thither, and by that time he came near the city his forces were increased to ten thousand men. Those of Mecca being not in a condition to defend themselves against so formida- ble an army, surrendered at discretion ; and Abu Sofian saved his life by turning Mohammedan. About twenty-eight of the idolaters were killed by a party under the command of Khaled; but this happened contrary to Mohamm.ed's orders, who, when he entered the town, pardoned all the Koreish, on their submission, except only six men and four women, wlio were more obnoxious than ordinary (some of them having apostatized), and were solemnly pro- scribed by the prophet himself ; but of these no more than three men and one woman were put to death, the rest obtaining pardon on their embracing Mo- hammedism, and one of the women making lier escape '. ' Al Bokhari in Sonna. 2 'f his circumstance is a plsin proof' that the Koreish had actually broken the truce, and that it was not a mere pretence of Jlohanimed's, as Dr. Prideaux insinuates. Life of Muh. p. 94. ^' V. Abulfed. ubi sup. c. 51, 62. 7^) THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 2- The remainder of this year Mohammed employed ill destroying' tlie idols in and round aboiit Mecca, sending several of his generals on expeditions for that purpose, and to invite the Arabs to Islamism; wherein it is no wonder if they now met with success. The next year, being the ninth of the Hejra, the Mohammedans call the year of embassies : for the Arabs had been hitherto exnectino' the issue of tlie war between Mohammed and the Koreish ; but so soon as that tribe, the principal of the whole nation, and the genuine descendants of Ismael, whose prero- gatives none offered to dispute, had submitted, they were satisfied that it was not in their power to oppose Mohammed, and therefore began to come in to him in great numbers, and to send embassies to make their submissions to him, both to Mecca while he staid there, and also to Medina whither he returned this year ^ Among the rest five kings of the tribe of Hainyar professed Mohammedism, and sent em- bassadors to notify the same ". In the tenth year Ali was sent into Yam an to pro- pagate the Mohammedan faith there, and, as it is said, converted the whole tribe of Haindan in one day. Their example was quickly followed by all the inhabitants of that province, except only those of Najran, who, being Christians, chose rather to pay tribute '. Thus was ]\Iohammcdism established, and idolatry rooted out, even in Mohammed's life-time (for he died the next year) throughout all Arabia, except only Yamama ; where Moseilama, who set u]) also for a prophet as Mohammed's competitor, had a great party, and was not reduced till the Khalifat of Abu Beer. And the Arabs being then united in one faith and under one prince, found themselves in a condi- tion of making those conquests which extended the Mohammedan faith over so great a part of the world. 1 V (iagnier, Not. ail Abulftd. p. 121. » Abulfed. iibi sup. p. 128. J Abulfcda, ib. p. U<). Sect. 3.] THE PllELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 77 SECTION III. Of the Koran itself, the peculiarities of that book ; the manner of its being written and published^, and the general design of it. The word Koran, derived from the verb karaa, to read, signifies properly in Arabic, the reading, or rather, that which ought to be read ; by which name the Mohammedans denote not only the entire book or volume of the Koran, but also any particular chapter or section of it ; just as the Jews call either the whole Scripture, or any part of it, by the name of Karah, or Mikra ', words of the same origin and import. Which observation seems to overthroAV the opinion of some learned Arabians, who wovdd have the Koran so named, because it is a collection of the loose chaji- ters or sheets which compose it ; the verb karaa signifying also to gather or collect-: and may also, by the way, serve as an answer to those who object^ that the Koran must be a book forged at once, and could not possibly be revealed by parcels at different times, during the course of several years, as the Mo- hammedans affirm ; because the Koran is often men- tioned, and called by that name, in the very book itself. It may not be amiss to observe, that the syllable Al in the word Alkoran is only the Arabic article, signifying the ; and therefore ought to be omitted when the English article is prefixed. Beside this peculiar name, the Koran is also ho- noured with several appellations common to other ' Tliib name was at first given to the Pentateuch only. Nehem. viii. V- Sin.on. Hist. Crit. du Vieux Test. 1. I. c. f». -V. Erpen. Not. ad Hist. Joseph, p. 3. ' Marracc. de Alcor- p. 41. 78 THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. books of scripture : as, al Forkaii, from the verb faraka, to divide or distinguish ; not, as the Moham- medan doctors say, because those books are divided into chapters or sections, or distinguish between good and evil, but in the same notion that the Jews use the word Perek, or Pirka, from the same root, to denote a section or portion of Scripture '. It is also called al Moshaf, the volume, and al Kitab, the book, by way of eminence, which answers to the Biblia of the Greeks ; and al Dhikr, the admonition, which name is also given to the Pentateuch, and Gospel. The Koran is divided into one hundred and four- teen larger portions of very imequal length, which we call chapters, but the Arabians Sowar, in the singular Sura, a word rarely used on any other oc- casion, and properly signifying a row, order, or re- gular series ; as a course of bricks in building, or a rank of soldiers in an army ; and is the same in use and import with the Sura, or Tora of the Jews, who also call the fifty-three sections of the Pentateuch Sedarim, a word of the same signification -. These chapters are not in the manuscript copies distinguished by their numerical order, though, for the reader's ease, they are numbered in this edition, but by particular titles, which (except that of the first, which is the initial chapter, or introduction to the rest, and by the old Latin translator not numbered among the chapters), are taken sometimes from a particular matter treated of, or person mentioned therein ; but usually from the first word of note, exactly in the same manner as the Jews have named their Sedarim ; though the word from which some chaj)ters are denominated be very far distant, to- wards the middle, or perhaps the end of the chapter, which seems ridiculous. But the occasion of this seems to have been, that the verse or passage wherein ' v. Gol. in append, ad (irain. Arab. Erpcn. 175. A chapter or sub-division of the IVIassictoth of the I\Iishna is also called Pcrck. iVIaimon. pra^f. in Seder Zeraini, p. 57. • V. Gol. ubi t.up. 177- Each of the six prand divisions of the Mishna is also called Seder. Mainion. ubi suj). p. 'i^t. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 79 such word occurs was, in point of time, revealed and committed to writing before the other verses of the same chapter which precede it in order ; and the title being given to the chapter before it was completed, or the passages reduced to their present order, the verse from whence such title was taken did not al- ways happen to begin the chapter. Some chapters have two or more titles, occasioned by the difference of the copies. Some of the chapters having been revealed at Mecca, and others at Medina, the noting this diifer- ence makes a part of the title : but the reader will observe that several of the chapters are said to have been revealed partly at Mecca, and partly at Medina ; and as to others, it is yet a dispute among the com- mentators to which place of the two they belong. Every chapter is subdivided into smaller portions, of very unequal length also, which we customarily call verses ; but the Arabic word is Ayat, the same with the Hebrew Ototh, and signifies signs, or wonders ; such as are the secrets of God, his attri- butes, works, judgments, and ordinances, delivered in those verses ; many of which have their parti- cular titles also, imposed in the same manner as those of the chapters. Notwithstanding this sub-division is common, and well known, yet I have never yet seen any manu- script wherein the verses are actually numbered ; though in some copies the number of verses in each chapter is set down after the title, which we have therefore added in the table of the chapters. And the Mohammedans seem^ to have some scruple in making an actual distinction in their copies, because the chief disagreement between their several editions of the Koran consists in the division and number of the verses ; and for this reason I have not taken upon me to make any such division. Having mentioned the different editions of the Koran, it may not be amiss here to acquaint the 80 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. reader, that there are seven principal editions, if I may so call them, or ancient copies of that book ; two of ^^'hich were published and used at IVIedina, a third at JMecca, a fourth at Cufa, a fifth at Basra, a sixth in Syria, and a seventh called the common or vulgar edition. Of these editions, the first of Medina makes the whole number of the verses six thousand ; the second and fifth, six thousand two hundred and fourteen ; the third, six thousand two hundred and nineteen ; the fourth, six thousand two hundred and thirty-six ; the sixth, six thousand two hundred and twenty-six ; and the last, six thousand two hundred and twenty-five. But they are all said to contain the same number of words, namely, seventy-seven thou- sand six hundred and thirty-nine * ; and the same number of letters, viz. three hundred and twenty-three thousand and fifteen-: for the Mohammedans have in this also imitated the Jews, that they have suj)er- stitiously numbered the very words and letters of their law ; nay, they have taken the pains to com- pute (how exactly I kncvv^ not) the number of times each particular letter of the alphabet is contained in the Koran '. Besides these unequal divisions of chapter and verse, the Mohammedans have also divided their Koran into sixty equal portions, which they call Ahzab, in the singular Hizb, each sub-divided into four equal parts ; which is also an imitation of the Jews, who have an ancient division of their Mishna into sixty portions called Massictoth^ : but the Koran is more usually divided into thirty sections onl}', named Ajza, from the singular Joz, each of twice the length, of the former, and in the like maimer sub- divided into four parts. These divisions are for the use of the readers of the Koran in the royal temples, ' Or as others reckon them, ninety-nine thousand four hundred and sixty-four. Roland, de Hel. ]\Ioh. p. 25. - Or according to anotiier computation, three hundretl and thirty thousand one hundred and thirteen. Ibid. V. Gol. ubi sup. )i. 17«. D'Herbdot, Ribl. Orient, p. H7. ' V. Roland, de Kelii^. MM\. p. 25. •• v. (Jol. ul)i sup. p. 1711. Mainioii. prajf. in Seder Ztr;iim, p. 57- Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARV DISCOURSE. 81 or in the adjoining chapels where the emperors and great men are interred. There are thirty of these readers belonging to every chapel, and each reads his section every day, so that the whole Koran is read over once a day'. I have seen several copies divided in this manner, and bound up in as many volumes ; and have thought it proper to mark these divisions in the margin of this translation by nu- meral letters. Next after the title, at the head of every chapter except only the ninth, is prefixed the following solemn form, by the Mohammedans called the Bis- millah, " In the name of the most merciful God ;" which form they constantly place at the beginning of all their books and writings in general, as a peculiar mark or distinguishing characteristic of their religion, it being counted a sort of impiety to omit it. The Jews for the same purpose make use of the form. In the name of the Lord, or, in the name of the great God : and the eastern Christians that of. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But I am apt to believe Mohammed really took this form, as he did many other things, from the Persian Magi, who used to begin their books in these words, Benam Yezdan bakhshaishgher dadar, that is. In the name of the most merciful, just God*. This auspicatory form, and also the titles of the chapters, are by the generality of the doctors and commentators believed to be of divine original, no less than the text itself; but the more moderate are of opinion they are only human additions, and not the very word of God. ^ ^ There are twenty-nine chapters of the Koran, which have this peculiarity, that they begin with certain letters of the alphabet, some with a single 1 V. Smith, De Moribus et Instit. Turcar. p. 58. « Hyde, Hist. Rel. Vet. Pars. p. 11. VOL. I. *^ 82 THE TREUMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. S. one, others with iiiorc. These letters the Moham- medans believe to be the peculiar marks of the Koran, and to conceal several profound mysteries, the certain understanding of which;, the more intel- ligent confess has not been communicated to any mortal, their prophet only excepted. Notwithstand- ing which some will take the liberty of guessing at their meaning by that species of Cabbala called by the Jews Notarikon^ and supjiose the letters to stand for as many words expressing the names and attributes of God, his works, ordinances, and decrees ; and therefore these mysterious letters, as well as the verses themselves, seem in the Koran to be called signs. Others explain the intent of these letters from their nature or or^an, or else from their value in numbers, according to another species of the Jewish Cabbala called Gematria ' ; the uncertainty of which conjectures sufficiently appears from their disagreement. Thus for example, five chapters, one of which is the second, begin with these letters, A. L. M. which some imagine to stand for Allah latif magid ; God is gracious and to be glorified ; or. Ana li minni, to me and from me, viz. belongs all ])crfection, and proceeds all good : or else for Ana Allah alam, I am the most wise God, taking the first letter to mark the beginning of the first word, the second the middle of the second word, and the third the Inst of the third word ; or for Allah, Ga- briel, Mohammed, the author, revealer, and preacher of the Koran. Others say, that as the letter A belongs to the lower part of the throat, the first of the organs of speech ; L to the palate, the middle organ ; and M to the lips, which are the last organ ; so these letters signify that God is the l)eginning, middle, and end, or ought to be praised in the begin- ning, middle, and end, of all our words and actions : or, as the total value of those three letters in numbers ' v. r.uxtnrf. Lexicon Uablnn. - V. lb. See ;Jso Scliickauli licchiniii linpj)crii;;liiin, p. (12, I'ic. Sect. 8.] THE PREI.lMINAPvY DISCOURSE. 83 ivS seventy-one, they signify that in the space of so many years, the religion preached in the Koran should be fully established. The conjecture of a learned Christian ' is at least as certain as any of the former, who supposes those letters were set there by the amanuensis, for Amar li Mohammed, i. e. At the command of Mohammed, as the five letters prefixed to the nineteenth chapter seem to be there written by a Jewish scribe, for Cob yaas, i. e. Thus he com- manded. The Koran is universally allowed to be written with the utmost elegance and purity of language, in the dialect of the tribe of Koreish, the most noble and polite of all the Arabians, but with some mix- ture, though very rarely, of other dialects. It is confessedly the standard of the Arabic tongue, and as the more orthodox believe, and are taught by the book itself, inimitable by any human pen (though some sectaries have been of another opinion-), and therefore insisted on as a permanent miracle, greater than that of raising the dead^, and alone sufficient to convince the world of its divine original. And to this miracle did Mohammed himself chiefly appeal for the confirmation of his mission, publicly challenging the most eloquent men in Ara- bia, which was at that time stocked with thousands whose sole study and ambition it was to excel in elegance of style and composition *, to produce even a single chapter that might be compared with it\ I will mention but one instance out of several, to show that this book was really admired for the beauty of its composure by those who must be allowed to have been competent judges. A poem of » Golius in append, ad Gram. Erp. p. 182. • See after. J Ahmed Abd'alhalim, apud IMarracc. de Ale. p. 43. * A noble writer therefore mis- takes the question when he says these eastern religionists leave their sacred wi it the sole standard of literate performance by extinguishing all true learning. For thougli they were destitute of what we call learning, yet they were far from being ignorant, or unable to compose elegantly in their own tongue. See Iv. Siiaftes- bury's Characteristics, Vol. 3. n, 23r». s Al GazalJ, apud Poc. Spec. I'M. See Koriln, c. 17, and also c. 2. p. 4. and ell, &c, (J 2 84 tHE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. Labid Ebn Rabia, one of the greatest wits in Arabia in Mohammed's time, being fixed up on the gate of the temple of Mecca, an honour allowed to none but the most esteemed performances, none of the other poets durst offer any thing of their own in compe- tition with it. But the second chapter of the Koran being fixed up by it soon after, Labid himself (then an idolater) on reading the first verses only, was struck with admiration, and immediately professed the religion taught thereby, declaring that such words could proceed from an inspired person only. This Labid was afterwards of great service to Mo- hammed, in writing answers to the satires and in- vectives that were made on him and his religion by the infidels, and particularly by Amri al Kais ', prince of the tribe of Asad', and author of one of those seven famous poems called al Moallakat^ The style of the Koran is generally beautiful and fluent, especially where it imitates the prophetic manner, and scripture phrases. It is concise, and often obscure, adorned with bold figures after the eastern taste, enlivened with florid and sententious expressions, and in many places, especially where the majesty and attributes of God are described, sublime and magnificent ; of which the reader can- not but observe several instances, though he must not imagine the translation comes up to the original, notwithstanding my endeavours to do it justice. Though it be written in prose, yet the sentences generally conclude in a long continued rhyme, for the sake of which the sense is often interrupted, and unnecessary repetitions too frequently made, which appear still more ridiculous in a translation, where the ornament, such as it is, for whose sake they were made, cannot be perceived. However the Arabians are so mightily delighted with this jin- gling, that they employ it in their most elaborate ' D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 5)2, 4c. * Poc. Spec. p. 80. > See before, p. olj. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 85 compositions, which they also embellish with frequent passages of and allusions to the Koran, so that it is next to impossible to understand them without being well versed in this book. It is probable the harmony of expression which the Arabians find in the Koran might contribute not a little to make them relish the doctrine therein taught, and give an efficacy to arguments which had they been nakedly proposed without this rhetorical dress, might not have so easily prevailed. Very extraordinary effects are related of the power of words well chosen and artfully placed, which are no less powerful either to ravish or amaze than music itself; wherefore as much has been ascribed by the best orators to this part of rhetoric as to any other \ He must have a very bad ear, who is not uncom- monly moved with the very cadence of a well-turned sentence ; and Mohammed seems not to have been ignorant of the enthusiastic operation of rhetoric on the minds of men ; for which reason he has not only employed his utmost skill in these his pretended revelations, to preserve that dignity and sublimity of style, which might seem not imworthy of the majesty of that Being, whom he gave out to be the author of them ; and to imitate the prophetic man- ner of the Old Testament ; but he has not neglected even the other arts of oratory ; wherein he succeeded so well, and so strangely captivated the minds of his audience, that several of his opponents thought it the effect of witchcraft and enchantment, as he sometimes complains". *' The general design of the Koran," (to use the words of a very learned person), " seems to be this. To unite the professors of the three different reli- gions then followed in the populous country of Arabia, who for the most part lived promiscuously, and wandered without guides, the far greater number ' See Casaubon of Enlhubiasm, chap. 4. = Koran, chaj). lo, 21, &c. 86 THE PUKI-IMIN'AHV discourbe. [Sect. 3. beiijg idolaters, and the rest Jews and Christians mostly of erroneous and heterodox Ijclief, in the knowledge and worship of one eternal, invisible God, by whose jx)wer all things were made, and those which are not, may be, the suju'eme Governor, Judge, and absolute Lord of the creation ; established under the sanction of certain laws, and the outward signs of certain ceremonies, partly of ancient and partly of novel institution, and enforced by setting before them rewards and punishments, both tem- poral and eternal; and to bring them all to the obedience of Mohammed, as the prophet and am- bassador of God, who after the repeated admonitions, promises, and threats of former ages, was at last to establisli and propagate God's religion on earth by force of arms, and to be acknowledged chief pontiff in spiritual matters, as well as supreme prince in temporal',*' The great doctrine then of the Koran is the unity of God ; to restore which point Mohammed pretended was the chief end of his mission ; it being laid down by him as a fundamental truth, that there never was nor ever can be more than one triie orthodox religion. For though the particular laws or ceremonies are only temporary, and subject to alteration according to the divine direction, yet the substance of it being eternal truth, is not liable to change, but continues immutably the same. And he taught that when- ever this religion became neglected, or corrupted in essentials, God had the goodness to reinform and readmonish mankind tliereof, by several prophets, of ■whom Moses and Jesus were the most distin- guished, till the appearance of Mohannned, who is their seal, no other being to be expected after him. And the more effectually to engage people to hearken to him, great part of the Koran is employed in relating examples of dreadful punishments formerly ' Golius. in append, ati Gram. trp. p. 116. Sect. 3.] THE rREl,IMINAR\' DISCOUHSE. 87 inflicted by God on those who rejected and abused his messengers; several of which stories or some circumstances of them are taken from the Old and New Testament, but many more from the apocry- phal books and traditions of the Jews and Christians of those ages, set up in the Koran as truths in opposition to the Scriptures, which the Jews and Christians are charged with having altered ; and I am apt to believe that few or none of the relations or circumstances in the Koran were invented by Mohammed, as is generally supposed, it being easy to trace the greatest part of them much higher, as the rest might be, were more of those books extant, and it was worth while to make the inquiry. The other part of the Koran is taken up in giving necessary laws and directions, in frequent admoni- tions to moral and divine virtues, and above all to the worshipping and reverencing of the only true God, and resignation to his will ; among which are many excellent things intermixed, not unworthy even a Christian's perusal. But besides these, there are a great number of passages which are occasional, and relate to particular emergencies. For whenever any thing happened which perplexed and gravelled Mohammed, and which he could not otherwise get over, he had constant re- course to a new revelation, as an infallible expedient in all nice cases ; and he found the success of this method answer his expectation. It was certainly an admirable and jwlitic contrivance of his to bring down the whole Koran at once to the lowest heaven only, and not to the earth, as a bungling prophet would probably have done ; for if the whole had been published at once, innumerable objections might have been made, which it would have been very hard, if not impossible, for him to solve : but as he pretended to have received it by parcels, as God saw proper that they should be published for the conversion and instruction of the people, he had a sure way to 88 THE PRELlMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from any difficulty which might occur. If any objection be hence made to that eternity of the Koran, which the IMohammedans are taught to believe, they easily answer it by their doctrine of absolute predestination ; according to which all the accidents for the sake of M'hicli these occasional passages were revealed were predetermined by God from all eternity. That Mohammed was really the author and chief contriver of the Koran, is beyond dispute ; though it be highly probable that he had no small assistance in his design from others, as his countrymen failed not to object to him^; however they differed so much in their conjectures as to the particular persons who gave him such assistance", that they were not able, it seems, to prove the charge ; IMohammed, it is to be presumed, having taken his measures too well to be discovered. Dr. Prideaux^ has given the most probable account of this matter, though chiefly from Christian writers, who generally mix such ridiculous fables with what they deliver, that they deserve not much credit. However it be, the Mohammedans absolutely deny the Koran was composed by their prophet himself, or any other for him ; it being their general and orthodox belief that it is of divine original, nay that it is eternal and uncreated, remaining, as some express it, in the very essence of God ; that the first transcript has been from everlasting by God's throne, written on a table of vast bigness, called the pre- served table, in which are also recorded the divine decrees past and future ; that a copy from this table, in one volume on paper, was by the ministry of the angel Gabriel sent down to the lowest heaven, in the month of Ramadan, on the night of power^: from • v. Kor. c. Hi. and c. 2o. ' Sec the notes on those pjissagcs. ' Life «if Mahomet, p. 31, &c. " V. Kor. c. I)/, and not. ibid. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 89 whence Gabriel revealed it to Mohammed by parcels, some at Mecca and some at Medina, at different times, during the space of twenty-three years, as the exigency of affairs required : giving him however the consolation to show him the whole (which they tell us was bound in silk, and adorned with gold and precious stones of paradise) once a year ; but in the last year of his life he had the favour to see it twice. They say that few chapters were delivered entire, the most part being revealed piece-meal, and written down from time to time by the prophet's amanuensis in such or such a part of such or such a chapter till they were completed, according to the directions of the angeP. The first parcel that was revealed is generally agreed to have been the first five verses of the ninety-sixth chapter \ After the new revealed passages had been from the prophet's mouth taken down in writing by his scribe, they were published to his followers, several of whom took copies for their private use, but the far greater number got them by heart. The originals, when returned, were put promiscuously into a chest, observing no order of time, for which reason it is uncertain when many passages were revealed. When Mohammed died, be left his revelations in the same disorder I have mentioned, and not digested into the method, such as it is, which we now find them in. This was the work of his successor Abu Beer, who considering that a great number of pass- ages were committed to the memory of Mohammed's followers, many of whom were slain in their wars, ordered the whole to be collected, not only from the palm-leaves and skins on which they had been written, and which were kept between two boards or covers, but also from the mouths of such as had ' Therefore it is a mistake of Dr. Prideaux to say it was brought him chapter by chapter. Life of JMahomet, p. G. The Jews also say the law was given to IMoscs by parcels. V. i^filliuni, flc Mohumiucdisnio ante Moliam. p, o(J5. ^ Not tlie whole chapter, as Golius says. Append, ad Or. Erp. p. 180. 90 THE I'REMMIXAIIY J)ISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. gotten tliem by heart. And this transcript when completed he committed to the cnstody of Hafsa the daughter of Omar, one of the prophet's widows'. From this relation it is generally imagined that Abu Beer was really the compiler of the Koran ; though for aught appears to the contrary Mo- hammed left the chapters complete as we now have them, excepting such passages as his successor might add or correct from those who had gotten them by heart; what Abu Beer did else l>eing perhaps no more than to range the chapters in their present order, which he seems to have done without any regard to time, having generally placed the longest first. However in the thirtieth year of the Hejra, Othman being then Khalif, and observing the great disagreement in the copies of the Koran in the several provinces of the empire, those of Irak, for example, following the reading of Abu Musa al Ashari, and the Syrians that of Macdad Ebn Aswad, he, by advice of the companions, ordered a great number of copies to be transcribed from that of Abu Beer, in Hafsa s care, under the inspection of Zeid Ebn Thabet, Abd'allah Ebn Zobair, Said Ebn al As, and Abd'alrahman Ebn al Hareth the Makhzumite ; whom he directed that wherever they disagreed about any word, they should AV^rite it in the dialect of the Koreish, in which it was at first delivered '-. These co])ies when made were disi)ersed in the several provinces of the empire, and the old ones burnt and suppressed. Though many things in Hafsa*s copy were corrected by the abovementioned supervisors, yet some few various readings still occur ; the most material of which will be taken notice of in their proper places. The want of vowels'* in the Arabic character ' l^lmacin. in Vita Abu llccr. Abullcda. "^ Abultida, in Vitis Abubccr ami Oihrnlii. 3 The characters or marks of Uic Arabic vowels were not used till several years after INIohanimcd. Sonic ascribe the invention of them to Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINAUV DISCOUHSE. 91 ma^le Mokris, or readers, whose peculiar study and profession it was to read tlie Korfm with its proper vowels, absolutely necessary. But these differing in their manner of reading, occi^sioned still further variations in the copies of the Koran, as they are now v/ritten with the vowels ; and herein consist much the greater part of the various readings throughout the book. The readers whose authority the commentators chiefly allege, in admitting these various readings, are seven in number. There being some passages in the Koran which are contradictory, the Mohammedan doctors obviate any objection from thence, by the doctrine of abroga- tion ; for they say, that Cxod in the Koran com- manded several things which were for good reasons afterward revoked and abrogated. Passages abrogated are distinguished into three kinds: the first, where the letter and the sense are both abrogated ; the second, where the letter only is abrogated, but the sense remains ; and the third, where the sense is abrogated, though the letter remains. Of the first kind were several verses, which by the tradition of Malec Ebn Ans were in the pro- phet's lifetime read in the chapter of repentance, but are not now extant, one of v/hich, being all he remembered of them, was the following, " If a son of Adam had two rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third ; and if he had three, he would covet yet a fourth (to be added) unto them; neither shall the belly of a son of Adam be filled, but with dust. God will turn unto him who shall repent." Another instance of this kind we have from the tradition of Abd'allah Ebn Masud, who reported that the pro- phet gave him a verse to read which he wrote down ; Yaliya Ebn Yaiirer, some to Nasr Ebn Asam, surnamed al Leithi, and others to Abu'laswad al Dili; ali three oi" whom were doctors uf Basra, and imnitdiately succtcdcd tlie companions. See D'lierbcl. 13ibl. Orient, p. 87. 92 THE PRELIMINAIIY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 3. but the next morning looking in his book, he found it was vanished, and the leaf blank : this he ac- quainted IMohammed with, who assured him the verse was revoked the same night. Of the second kind is a verse called the verse of stoning, wliich according to the tradition of Omar, afterwards Khallf, was extant while Mohammed was living, though it be not now to be found. The words are these, " Abhor not your parents, for this would be ingratitude in you. If a man and woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both ; it is a punishment ordained by God ; for God is mighty and wise." Of the last kind are observed several verses in sixty-three different chapters, to the number of 225. Such as the precepts of turning in prayer to Je- rusalem ; fasting after the old custom ; forbearance towards idolaters ; avoiding the ignorant, and the like '. The passages of this sort have been care- fully collected by several writers, and are most of them remarked in their proper places. Though it is the belief of the Sonnites or orthodox that the Koran is uncreated and eternal, subsisting in the very essence of God, and Mohammed himself is said to have pronounced him an infidel who as- serted the contrary ', yet several have been of a different opinion ; particularly the sect of the M6- tazalites ^, and the followers of Isa Ebn Sobeih Abu Musa, surnamed al Mozdar, who stuck not to accuse those who held the Koran to be uncreated of in- fidelity, as assertors of two eternal beings \ This point was controverted Avith so much heat that it occasioned many calamities under some of the Khalifs of the family of Abbas, al Mam Cm ^ making a public edict declaring the Koran to be ' Abu Hashcm Hcbatallah, apud Ularracc. de Ale. p. 42. ' Apud. Poc. Spec. 220. ' See after, in Sect. 8. ♦ V. Poc. Spec p. 2l;>, &c. 5 Anno Hej. '21)f. Abulfarag. p. 24.'i. v. cliam Elmacin. in Vita »1 ]\IaniOn. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 93 created, which was confirmed by his successors al Motasem ' and al Wathek \ who whipt, impri- soned, and put to death those of the contrary opinion. But at length al Motawakkel ^ who suc- ceeded al Wathek, put an end to these persecutions, by revoking the former edicts, releasing those that were imprisoned on that account, and leaving every man at liberty as to his belief in this point ^ Al Ghazali seems to have tolerably reconciled both opinions, saying, that the Koretn is read and pronounced with the tongue, written in books, and kept in memory ; and is yet eternal, subsisting in God's essence, and not possible to be separated thence by any transmission into mens' memories or the leaves of books ' ; by which he seems to mean no more than that the original idea of the Koran only is really in God, and consequently co-essential and co-eternal with him, but that the copies are created, and the work of man. The opinion of al Jahedh, chief of a sect bearing his name, touching the Koran, is too remarkable to be omitted : he used to say it was a body, which might sometimes be turned into a man % and some- times into a beast ^ ; which seems to agree with the notion of those who assert the Koran to have two faces, one of a man, the other of a beast ** ; thereby, > In the time of al Motasem, a doctor named Abu Harun Ebn al Baca found out a distinction to screen himself, by affirming that the Koran was ordained, because it is said in that book, " And I have ordained thee the Koran." He went still farther to allow that what was ordained was created, and yet he denied it thence followed that the Koran was created. Abulfarag. p. 253. * Ibid, p. 257. ^ Anno Hej. 242. " Abulfarag. p. 262. ^ Al Ghazali, in prof. fid. ^ The Khalif al Walid Ebn Yazid, who was the eleventh of the race of Ommeya, and is looked on by the Mohammedans as a reprobate, and one of no religion, seems to have treated this book as a rational creature. For dippbg into it one day, the first words he met with were these; " Every re- bellious perverse person shall not prosper :" Whereupon he stuck it on a lance and shot it to pieces with arrows, repeating these verses ; " Dost thou rebuke every rebeUious perverse person ? behold, I am that rebellious perverse person. " When thou appearest before thy Lord on the day of resurrection, say, O Lord, al Walid has torn me thus."--Ebn Shohnah. v. Poc- Spec. 223. " Poc. Spec. p. 222. 8 Herbelot. p. 87- 94 THE PKEl.IMIXAi^Y DISCOURSE. [S<:»Ot. 3 at) I conceive, intimating the double interpretation it will admit of, according to the letter or tiie spirit. As some have held the Koran to be created, so there have not been wanting those who liave asserted that there is nothing miraculous in that book in respect to style or composition, excepting only the prophetical relations of things past, and predictions of things to come; and that had God left men to their natural liberty, and not restrained them in that particular, the Arabians could have composed something not only equal, but superior to the Koran in eloquence, method, and purity of language. This was another opinion of the Motazalites, and in particular of al Mozdar abovementioned and al Nod ham '. The Koran being the Mohannnedans' rule of faith and i}ractice, it is no wonder its expositors and com- mentators are so very numerous. And it may not be amiss to take notice of the rules they observe in expounding it. One of the most learned commentatoi's ^ distin- guishes the contents of the Koran into allegorical and literal. The former comprehends the more ob- scure, parabolical, and cenigmatical passages, and such as are repealed or abrogated ; the latter those which are plain, perspicuous, liable to no doubt, and in full force. To explain these severally in a riglit manner, it is necessary from tradition and study to know the time when each passage was revealed, its circum- stances, state, and history, and the reasons or par- ticular emergencies for the sake of which it was re- vealed ^ Or, more explicitly, whether the passage was revealed at Mecca, or at Medina ; whether it be abrogated, or does itself abrogate any other passage ; ' Abulfcda, ShaliresUini, ^c. apud. Poc, Spec. p. 222, ct Marracc ilc Kor. p. 44. » Al Zamakhsliari. V. Koriln, chup. .i, p. 51. ' Ahmed Ebn Moh. al Tlialcbi, in Princip. Expos. Ale. Sect. 3.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 95 whether it be anticipated in order of time, or post- poned ; whether it be distinct from the context, or depends thereon ; whether it be particular or ge- neral ; and lastly whether it be implicit by intention, or explicit in words \ By what has been said the reader may easily be- lieve this book is in the greatest reverence and esteem among the Mohammedans. They dare not so much as touch it without being first washed or legally purified * ; which lest they should do by in- advertence, they write these words on the cover or label, " Let none touch it, but they who are clean." They read it with great care and respect, never holding it below their girdles. They swear by it, consult it in their weighty occasions \ carry it with them to war, write sentences of it on their banners, adorn it with gold and precious stones, and know- ingly suffer it not to be in the possession of any of a different persuasion. The Mohammedans, far from thinking the Koran to be profaned by a translation, as some authors have written ^ have taken care to have their scrip- tures translated not only into the Persian tongue, but into several others, particularly the Javan and Malayan % though out of respect to the original Arabic, these versions are generally (if not always) interlineaiy. • Yahya Ebn a) Salam al Basri, in Princip. Expos. Ale. ^ The Jews have the same veneration for their law ; not daring to touch it with unwashed hands, nor then neither without a cover. V. Millium, dc Mohammedismo ante Moh. p. 3GG. 3 This they do by dipping into it, and taking an omen from the words which they first light on : wliich practice they also learned of tlie Jews, who do the same with the scripture. V. Millium, ubi sup. * Sionita, de Urb. Orient, p. 41. et Marracc. de Ale. p. 33. s Reland, de Rel. Moh. p.2C5. 96 THE PREI.IMINAUV DISCOURSE. [Scct. L SECTION IV. Of the Doctrines and positive Precepts of the Koran, which relate to Faith and religious Duties. It has been already observed more than once, that the fundamental position on which Mohammed erected the superstructure of his religion was, that from the beginning to the end of the world there has been, and for ever will be, but one true orthodox belief; consisting, as to matter of faith, in the ac- knowledging of the only true God, and the believing in and obeying such messengers or prophets as he should from time to time send, with proper cre- dentials to reveal his will to mankind ; and as to matter of practice, in the observance of the immu- table and eternal laws of right and wrong, together with such other precepts and ceremonies as God should think fit to order for the time being, according to the different dispensations in different ages of the world : for these last he allowed were things indif- ferent in their own nature, and became obligatory by God's positive precept only ; and were therefore temporary and subject to alteration according to his will and pleasure. And to this religion he gives the name of Islam, which word signifies resignation, or submission to the service and commands of God ' ; and is used as the proper name of the IVIohammedan religion, which they will also have to be the same at bottom with that of all the prophets from Adam. » The root Salama, from wlicnce Islam is formed, in die first and fourth con- jugations, signifies also to he saved, or to inter into a state of salvation ; according to which, Islikm may be translated tlie religion or state of salvation : but the otlier sense is more approved by the Mohammedans, and alluded te in the Koran itself. See c. 2. p. L'3, and c. 3. p. ri;i. Sect. 4.] THE PllELIMINARV DISCOURSE. 97 Under pretext that this eternal religion was in his time corrupted, and professed in its purity by- no one sect of men, Mohammed pretended to be a prophet sent by God, to reform those abuses which had crept into it, and to reduce it to its primitive simplicity; with the addition however of peculiar laws and ceremonies, some of which had been used in former times, and others were now first instituted. And he comprehended the whole substance of his doctrine under these two propositions, or articles of faith ; viz. that there is but one God, and that him- self was the apostle of God ; in consequence of which latter article, all such ordinances and institutions as he thought fit to establish must be received as ob- ligatory and of divine authority. The Mohammedans divide their religion, which as I just now said they call Islam, into two distinct parts ; Iman, i. e. faith, or theory, and Bin, i. e. re- ligion, or practice ; and teach that it is built on five fundamental points, one belonging to faith, and the other four to practice. The first is that confession of faith which I have already mentioned ; that " there is no god but the true God; and that Mohammed is his apostle." Under which they comprehend six distinct branches ; viz. 1. Belief in God; 2. In his angels; 3. In his scriptui-es ; 4. In his prophets ; 5. In the resurrec- tion and day of judgment ; and, 6. In God's absolute decree and predetermination both of good and evil. The four points relating to practice ai*e, 1. Prayer, under which are comprehended those washings or purifications which are necessary preparations re- quired before prayer: 2. Alms; 3. Fasting; and, 4. The pilgrimage to Mecca. Of each of these I shall speak in their order. That both Mohammed and those among his fol- lowers who are reckoned orthodox had and continue to have just and true notions of God and his at- tributes (always excepting their obstinate and im- VOL. I. H 98 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. pious rejecting of the Trinity) appears so plain from the Koran itself and all the Mohammedan divines, that it would be loss of time to refute those who suppose the God of Mohammed to be different from the true God, and only a fictitious deity or idol of his own creation '. Nor shall I here enter into any of the Mohammedan controversies concerning the divine nature and attributes, because I shall have a more proper opportunity of doing it elsewhere -. The existence of angels and their purity are ab- solutely required to be believed in the Koran ; and he is reckoned an infidel who denies there are such beings, or hates any of them ', or asserts any di- stinction of sexes among them. They believe them to have pure and subtil bodies, created of fire ' ; that they neither eat nor drink, nor propagate their species ; that they have various forms and oflfices ; some adoring God in different postures, others singing- praises to him, or interceding for mankind. They hold that some of them are employed in writing down the actions of men ; others in carrying the throne of God and other services. The four angels whom they look on as more eminently in God's favour, and often mention on account of the offices assigned them, are Gabriel, to whom they give several titles, particularly those of the hoh/ spi?'it\ and the angel of revelations '\ suj)- posing him to be honoured by God with a greater confidence than any other, and to be employed in writing down the divine decrees " ; Michael, tlie friend and protector of the Jews"; Azriiel, the angel of death, who separates men*s souls from their bodies'^; and Israfil, whose office it will be to sound the trumpet at the resurrection'". The ' Marracc. in A]c. p. 102. - Sect. VIII. ^ Koran, c. 2. p. 18. < lb c. 7, iiml .'Jli. ^ lb. c. 2. p. 10". ^ See die nous, ib. p. 1;!. ^ V. Ilydc, Hist Kel. Vet. Pers. p. 202. » V. ib. p. 2/1. and not. in Kor. p. If?. fi V^. not. ib. p. .'f. '" Kor. c. H, l.'i, and JUi. The offices of these four angels arc described almost in the same manner in the apocryplial S5ospcl of Barnab.xs ; wlicre it is said that Gabriel reveals the H'crcts of God, Sect. 4.] THE PllELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 99 Mohammedans also believe that two guardian angels attend on every man, to observe and write doAvn his actions \ being changed every day, and therefore called al Moakkibat, or the angels who continually succeed one another. This whole doctrine concerning angels Mohammed and his disciples have borrowed from the Jews, who learned the names and offices of those beings from the Persians, as themselves confess '^ The ancient Persians firmly believed the ministry of angels, and their superintendence over the affairs of this world (as the Magians still do), and therefore assigned them distinct charges and provinces, giving their names to their months and the days of their months. Gabriel they called Sorush and Re van bakhsh, or the , 7-', ^ 74. " See D'Herbclot. Bihl. Orient, p. 'Mi'), 820, iVc. ' In libro Zuhur. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINAIIY DISCOURSE. 101 die'. They also say that some of them believe in the law of Moses, and are consequently good, and that others of them are infidels and reprobates'. As to the Scriptures, the Mohammedans are taught by the Koran that God, in divers ages of the world, gave revelations of his will in writing to several prophets, the whole and every word of which it is absolutely necessary for a good Moslem to believe. The number of these sacred books was, according to them, 104. Of which ten were given to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Edris or Enoch, ten to Abraham; and the other four, being the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Koran, were successively delivered to Moses, David, Jesus, and Mohammed ; which last being the seal of the prophets, those revelations are now closed, and no more are to be expected. All these divine books; except the four last, they agree to be now entirely lost, and their contents unknown ; though the Sa- bians have several books which they attribute to some of the antediluvian prophets. And of those four, the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospel, they say, have undergone so many alterations and corruptions, that though there may possibly be some part of the true word of God therein, yet no credit is to be given to the present copies in the hands of the Jews and Christians. The Jews in particular are frequently reflected on in the Koran for falsifying and corrupt- ing their copies of their law ; and some instances of such pretended corruptions, both in that book and the two others, are produced by Mohammedan writers ; wherein they merely follow their own pre- judices, and the fabulous accounts of spurious le- gends. Whether they have any copy of the Penta- teuch among them different from that of the Jews or not, I am not entirely satisfied, since a person who travelled into the east was told, that they had • Gemara, in Hagiga. - Igrat Baalc liayyini. c. 15. 102 THE riiELiivriNAiiv Discoi^RSE. [Soct. 4. the books of Moses, though very much corrujitcd ' ; but I know nobody that has ever seen them. How- ever they certainly have and privately read a book which they call the Psalms of David, in Arabic and Persian, to which are added some jn-ayers of Moses, Jonas, and others ^ This Mr. Reland supposes to be a translation from our co})ies (though no doubt falsified in more places than one) ; but Mr. D'Her- belot says it contains not the same Psalms which are in our Psalter, being no more than an extract from thence mixed with other very diil'ereiit pieces '. The easiest way to reconcile these two learned gentlemen is to presume that they speak of difilrent copies. The Mohammedans have also a Gospel in Arabic, attributed to St. Barnabas, wherein the liistory of Jesus Christ is related in a manner very diflerent from what we find in the true Gospels, and corre- spondent to those traditions which Mohammed has followed in his Koran. Of this Gospel the IMoriscoes in Africa have a translation in Si)anisli • ; and there is in the library of prince Eugene of Sa^^oy a ma- nuscript of some antiquity, containing an Italian translation of the same Gosi)er, made, it is to be sui)posed, for the use of renegades. 1'his book ap- j)ears to be no original forgery of the ]\iohammedans, though they have no doubt interjK)lated and altered it since, the better to serve their purpose ; and in particular, instead of the Paraclete or Comforter", they have in this apocryi)lial gospel inserted the AV'ord Periclyte, that is the famous or illustrious, by >vhich they ])retend their proj)het was foretold l)y name, that being the signification of Mohannued in Arabic': and this they say to justify that i)assage of the Koriin', where Jesus Christ is formally as- serted to have foretold his coming, under his other ' Terry's Voyage to the East Indies, p. 277- ' De Rcl. i\Io!iani. p. ^'.'i. ^ A copy of this kind lie tells us is in the library of the I'uke o( Tuscanvi Bihl. Orient, p. !»_M. ' Heland, iilii sup. ■ IMena-iar.. T. -1, p. 321, r. p. 2(>, lV.c. Sect. 4.] THE rilEI.IMINAIlY DISCOURSE. 105 termediate state, both of the body and of the soul, after death. When a corpse is laid in the grave, they say he is received by an angel, who gives him notice of the coming of the two Examiners ; which are two black livid angels, of a terrible appearance, named Monker and Nakir. These order the dead person to sit up- right, and examine him concerning his faith, as to the unity of God, and the mission of Mohammed : if he answer rightly, they suffer the body to rest in peace, and it is refreshed by the air of paradise ; but if not, they beat him on the temples with iron maces, till he roars out for anguish so loud, that he is heard by all from east to west, except men and genii. Then they press the earth on the corpse, which is gnawed and stung till the resurrection by ninety-nine dragons with seven heads each : or, as others say, their sins will become venomous beasts, the grievous ones stinging like dragons, the smaller like scorpions, and the others like serpents : circumstances which some understand in a figurative sensed This examination of the sepulchre is not only founded on an express tradition of Mohammed, but is also plainly hinted at, though not directly taught, in the Koran', as the commentators agree. It is therefore believed by the orthodox Mohammedans in general, who take care to have their graves made hollow, that they may sit up with more ease while they are examined by the angels^; but is utterly re- jected by the sect of the Motazalites, and perhaps by some others. These notions Mohammed certainly borrowed from the Jews, among whom they were very an- ciently received ^ They say that the angel of death coming and sitting on the grave, the soul immediately enters the body and raises it on its feet ; that he then 1 Al Ghazali. V. Poc. not. in Port. MolU, p. 241, c\:c. - Ciip. «, and ■17, &c. 3 Smith, Dc Morib. ct Instit Tiircur. Ep. 2, p. 57- •• V.Hydc. in nolis adUobov. dc Visit, jligrot. p. I'J. 106 THE PIlELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sett. 4. examines tlie (lej)arte(l person, and strikes him with a chain half of iron and half of fire ; at the first blow all his limbs are loosened, at the second his bones are scattered, M'hich are gathered together again by angels, and the third stroke reduces the body to dust and ashes, and it returns into the grave. This rack or torture they call Hii)but hakkeber, or the beating of the sepulchre, and ])retend that all men in general must undergo it, except only those Avho die on the evening of the sabbath, or have dwelt in the land of Israel'. If it be objected to the Mohammedans that the cry of the persons under such examination has been never heard ; or if they be asked how those can undergo it whose bodies are burnt or devoured by beasts or birds, or otherwise consumed Avithout burial ; they answer, that it is very possible not\vith- standing, since men are not able to perceive what is transacted on the other side the grave ; and that it is sufficient to restore to life any part of the body Avhich is capable of understanding the questions put by the angels ^ As to the soul, they hold that when it is separated from the body by the angel of death, who })erforms his office with ease and gentleness towards the good, and with violence towards the wicked ', it enters into that state which they call al Berzakh% or the interval between death and the resurrection. If the dej^arted person was a believer, they say two angels meet it, Avho convey it to heaven, that its place there may be as- signed, according to its merit and degree. For they distinguish the souls of the faithful into three classes ; the first of prophets, whose souls are admitted into paradise immediately ; the second of mart}'rs, whose spirits, according to a tradition of Mohammed, rest in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits and ' R. Elias, in TishbL Sec also I3ux tort". Synag. Judaic. ;rca( ! As they are dividing the spoil, news will come to them of the appearance of Antichrist ; whereupon they shall leave all, and return back. 4. The coming of Antichrist, whom the Moham- medans call al Masih al Dajjal, i. e. the false or lying C/irisl, and simply al Dajjal. He is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters C. F. R. signifying Cafer, or infidel. They say that the Jews give him the name of Messiali Ben David, and pretend he is to come in the last days, and to be lord both of land and sea, and that he will restore the kingdom to them. According to the traditions of Mohammed, he is to appear first between Irak and Syria, or according to others, in the province of Khorasan ; they add that he is to ride on an ass ; that he will be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Ispahan, and continue on earth forty days, of \vhicli one \v\\\ be equal in lengtli to a year, another to a month, another to a week, and ' Chnp. xiii. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. Ill the rest will be common days ; that he is to lay waste all places, but will not enter Mecca or Medina, which are to be guarded by angels ; and that at length he will be slain by Jesus, who is to encounter him at the gate of Lud. It is said that Mohammed foretold several Antichrists, to the number of about thirty; but one of greater note than the rest. 5. The descent of Jesus on earth. They pretend that he is to descend near the white tower to the east of Damascus, when the people are returned from the taking of Constantinople ; that he is to embrace the Mohammedan religion, marry a wife, get children, kill Antichrist, and at length die after forty years', or according to others twenty-four years' \ continuance on earth. Under him they say there will be great security and plenty in the world, all hatred and malice being laid aside ; when lions and camels, bears and sheep, shall live in peace, and a child shall play with serpents unhurt '-. 6. War with the Jews ; of whom the Moham- medans are to make a prodigious slaughter, the very trees and stones discovering such of them as hide themselves, except only the tree called Gharkad, which is the tree of the Jews. 7. The eruption of Gog and Magog, or, as they are called in the east, Yajuj and Majuj ; of whom many things are related in the Koran ^, and the tra- ditions of Mohammed. These barbarians, they tell us, having passed the lake of Tiberias, which the vanguard of their vast army will drink dry, will come to Jerusalem, and there greatly distress Jesus and his companions ; till at his request God will de- stroy them, and fill the earth with their carcasses, which after some time God will send birds to carry away, at the prayers of Jesus and his followers. Their bows, arrows, and quivers the Moslems will burn for seven years together^; and at last God ' Al Thalabi, in Kor. c. 4. ■= See Isaiah xi. 6, &c. 3 Chap. 18, and 21. 4 See Ezek. xxxix. i). Revel, xx. 8. 112 THE niELIMINAIlY DISCOURSE. [St'Ct. 4. will send a rain to cleanse the earth, and to make it fertile. 8. A smoke, which shall fill the whole earth '. 9. An eclipse of the moon. IMohammed is re- ported to have said, that there would be three eclipses before the last hour ; one to be seen in the east, another in the west, and the third in Arabia. 10. The returning of the Arabs to the worship of Allat and al Uzza, and the rest of their ancient idols ; after the decease of every one in whose heart there was faith equal to a grain of mustard seed, none but the very worst of men being left alive. For God, they say, will send a cold odoriferous wind, blowing from Syria Damascena, which shall sweep away the souls of all the faithful, and the Koran itself, so that men will remain in the grossest ig- norance for an hundred years. 11. The discovery of a vast heap of gold and silver by the retreating of the Euphrates, which will be the destruction of many. 12. The demolition of the Caaba, or temple of Mecca, by the Ethiopians ?. 13. The speaking of beasts and inanimate things. 14. The breaking out of fire in the province of Hejaz ; or, according to others, in Yaman. 15. The appearance of a man of the descendants of Kahtiin, who shall drive men before him with his staff. 16. The coming of the Mohdi, or director ; con- cerning whom Mohammed prophesied, that the world should not have an end till one of his own family should govern the Arabians, whose name should be the same with his own name, and whose father's name should also be the same with his father's name ; and who should fill the earth with righteousness. This person the Shiites believe to be now alive, and concealed in some secret place, ' See Koran, c. 14, :uul the notes thereon. Compare also Joel ii. 30, anil Revel, ix. 2. ■■■ Sec after, in this section. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 113 till the time of his manifestation ; for they suppose him to be no other than the last of the twelve Imams, named Mohammed Abu'lkasem, as their prophet was, and the son of Hassan al Askeri, the eleventh of that succession. He was born at Ser- manrai in the 255th year of the Hejra\ From this tradition, it is to be presumed, an opinion pretty current among the Christians took its rise, that the Mohammedans are in expectation of their prophet's return. IT. A wind which shall sweep away the souls of all who have but a grain of faith in their hearts, as has been mentioned under the tenth sign. These are the greater signs, which, according to their doctrine, are to precede the resurrection, but still leave the hour of it uncertain : for the imme- diate sign of its being come will be the first blast of the trumpet ; which they believe will be sounded three times. The first they call the blast of con- stemation ; at the hearing of which all creatures in heaven and earth shall be struck with terror, except those Avhom God shall please to exempt from it. The effects attributed to this first sound of the trumpet are very wonderful : for they say, the earth will be shaken, and not only all buildings, but the very mountains, levelled ; that the heavens shall melt, the sun be darkened, the stars fall, on the death of the angels, who, as some imagine, hold them suspended between heaven and earth, and the sea shall be troubled and dried up, or, according to others, turned into flames, the sun, moon, and stars being thrown into it: the Koran, to express the greatness of the terror of that day, adds that women who give suck shall abandon the care of their infants, and even the she-camels which have gone ten months with young (a most valuable part of the substance of that nation) shall be utterly neglected. A farther ' V. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 531. VOL. I. 114 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. effect of this blast ^\111 be that concourse of beasts mentioned in the Koran ', though some doubt wlie- ther it be to precede the resurrection or not. They who suppose it will precede, think that all kinds of annuals, forgetting their respective natural fierce- ness and timidity, will run together into one place, being terrified by the sound of the trumpet and the sudden shock of nature. The Mohammedans believe that this first blast will be followed by a second, wliich they call the blast of exanimafioii'^ ; when all creatures both in heaven and earth shall die or be annihilated, except those which God shall please to exempt from the common fate ' ; and this, they say, shall hajipen in the twinkling of an eye, nay in an instant ; nothing surviving except God alone, with paradise and hell, and the inhabitants of those two places, and the throne of glory \ The last who shall die vdW be the angel of death. Forty years after this will be heard the blast of resiirrectio7i, when the trumpet shall be sounded the third time by Israfil, who, together with Gabriel and Michael, will be previously restored to life, and standing on the rock of the temple of Jerusalem % shall at God's command call together all the dry and rotten bones, and other dispersed parts of tlie bodies, and tlie very hairs, to judgment. Tliis angel having, by the divine order, set the trumpet to his mouth, and called together all the souls from all parts, will tlirow them into his trumpet, from whence, on his giving the last sound, at the com- mand of God, they will fly forth like bees, and fill ' Cliap. 81. - Several writers Ijowcver make no distinction between tliLs blast and the first, supposing the trumpet will sound but twice. See the notes to Kor. cliap. 3!>. ^ Kor. chap. 'i!>. » To these some add the spirit who bears the waters on which the throne is placed, the preserved Table, wherein the decrees of (Jod are registered, and tlie pen wherewith they are written ; all which things the Mohammedans imagine were created before the world. •'> In this circumstance the IMohainmedans follow the .Jews, who also agree that the trumpet will sound more than once. V. R. Bcchai in Biur hfittorah, and Otiotli shel R. Akiba. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 115 the whole space between heaven and earth, and then repair to their respective bodies, which the opening- earth will suffer to arise ; and the first who shall so arise, according to a tradition of Mohammed, will be himself. For this birth the earth will be pre- pared by the rain abovementioned, which is to fall continually for forty years \ and will resemble the seed of a man, and be supplied from the water under the throne of God, which is called livi7ig water; by the efficacy and virtue of which the dead bodies shall spring forth from their graves, as they did in their mother's womb, or as corn sprouts forth by common rain, till they become perfect; after which, breath will be breathed into them, and they will sleep in their sepulchres till they are raised to life at the last trump. As to the length of the day of judgment, the Koran in one place tells us that it will last one thou- sand years -, and in another fifty thousand \ To re- concile this apparent contradiction, the commentators use several shifts : some saying, they know not what measure of time God intends in those passages; others, that these forms of speaking are figurative, and not to be strictly taken, and were designed onl)^ to express the terribleness of that day, it being usual for the Arabs to describe what they dislike as of long continuance, and what they like as the con- trary ; and others suppose them spoken only in re- ference to the difficulty of the business of the day, which if God should commit to any of his creatures, they would not be able to go through it in so many thousand years ; to omit some other opinions which we may take notice of elsewhere. Having said so much in relation to the time of the resurrection, let us now see who are to be raised from the dead, in what manner and form they shall ' Elsewhere (see before, p. 108.) this rain is said to continue only forty days; but it rather seems that it is to fall during the whole interval between the second and third blasts. '^ Kor. chap. 32. 3 lb. chap. 70. I 2 IIG THE mELIMlXAltY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. be raised, in what place they shall be assembled, and to what end ; according to the doctrine of the Mohammedans. That the resurrection will be general, and extend to all creatures, both angels, genii, men and animals, is the received opinion, which they support by the authority of the Koran ; though that passage which is produced to prove the resurrection of brutes be otherwise interpreted by some '. The manner of their resurrection will be very different. Those who are destined to be partakers of eternal happiness will arise in honour and security ; and those who are doomed to misery, in disgrace and under dismal apprehensions. As to mankind, they say, that they will be raised perfect in all their parts and members, and in the same state as they came out of their mothers' wombs, that is, bare- footed, naked, and uncircumcised ; which circum- stances when IMohammed was telling his wife Ayesha, she, fearing the rules of modesty might be thereby violated, objected that it would be very indecent for men and women to look upon one another in that condition : but he answered her, that the business of the day would be too weighty and serious to allow them the making use of that liberty. Others how- ever allege the authority of their prophet for a contrary opinion as to their nakedness, and pretend he asserted that the dead should arise dressed in the same clothes in which they died - ; unless we in- terpret these words, as some do, not so much of the outward dress of the body, as the inward clothing of the mind ; and understand thereby that every person will rise again in the same state as to his faith or infidelity, his knowledge or ignorance, his good or bad works. Mohammed is also said to have farther ' See the notes to Kor. chap. SI. and the jjieceding page. '^ In this also they follow their old guides, the Jews ; who say that if tlie wheat which is sown naked rise clothed, it is no wonder the pious who are buried in their clothes should rise with them. Oemar. Sanhedr. fol. 90. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 117 taught, by another tradition, that mankind shall be assembled at the last day, distinguished into three classes. The first, of those who go on foot : the second, of those who ride ; and the third, of those who creep groveling with their faces on the ground. The first class is to consist of those believers v^hose good works have been few ; the second of those who are in greater honoiu* with God, and more acceptable to him ; whence Ali affirmed that the pious, when they come forth from their sepulchres, shall find ready prepared for them white winged camels, ^vith saddles of gold : wherein are to be observed some footsteps of the doctrine of the ancient Arabians ^ ; and the third class, they say, will be composed of the infidels, whom God shall cause to make their appearance with their faces on the earth, blind, dumb and deaf. But the ungodly will not be thus only distinguished ; for, according to a tradition of the prophet, there will be ten sorts of wicked men on whom God shall on that day fix certain discretorv marks. The first will appear in the form of apes ; these are the professors of Zendicism : the second in that of swine ; these are thev who have been ereedv ot filthy lucre, and enriched themselves by public oppression : the third will be brought with their heads reversed, and their feet distorted ; these are the usurers : the fourth will wander about blind ; these are unjust judges : the fifth will be deaf, dumb, and blind, understanding nothing ; these are they who glory in their own works : the sixth will gnaw their tongues, M^hich will hang down upon their breasts, corrupted blood flowing from their mouths like spittle, so that every body shall detest them ; these are the learned men and doctors, whose actions contradict their sayings : the seventh will have their hands and feet cut off; these are they who have injured their neighbours : the eighth will See before, Sect. I. p. 2S. 118 THE PREI.I?.IINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. be fixed to the trunks of palm-trees or stakes of wood ; these are the false accusers and informers : the ninth will stink worse than a corrupted corpse ; these are they who have indulged their passions and voluptuous appetites, but refused God such part of their wealth as was due to him : the tenth will be clothed with garments daubed with pitch ; and these are the proud, the vainglorious, and the arrogant. As to the place where they are to be assembled to judgment, the Koran and the traditions of Mohammed agree that it will be on the earth, but in what part of the earth it is not agreed. Some say their pro- phet mentioned Syria for the place ; others, a white and even tract of land, without inhabitants or any signs of buildings. Al Ghazali imagines it will be a second earth, which he supposes to be of silver ; and others an earth which has nothing in common with ours, but the name; having, it is possible, heard something of the new hea-^^ens and new earth mentioned in scripture : whence the Koran has this expression, " on the day wherein the earth shall be changed into another earth '." The end of the resurrection the Mohammedans declare to be, that they who are so raised may give an account of their actions, and receive the reward thereof. And they believe that not only mankind, but the genii jnd irrational animals also ^ shall be judged on this gi-eat day ; when the unarmed cattle shall take vengeance on the horned, till entire satis- faction shall be given to the injured \ As to mankind, they hold that when they are all ' Chap. IJ. 1 Kor. chap. (!. V. Maimonid. I\Iore Nev. part '.i. c. 1?. 3 Tills opinion the learned Greaves supposed to have taken its rise from the following words of Ezekiel, wrongly understood; '' And as for ye, O my flock, thus saitli the Lord (Jod, Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats.— Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle, and between the lean cattle ; because ye have tluust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad ; therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a i)rey. and I willjndge between cattle and cattle, Sec." p:zek. xxxiv. 17, &c. 'JO, 21, '22. I\Iuch might be said concerning brutes dcocrving future reward and punishment. Sec Bayle, Diet. Hibt. Art. Horarius, Rem. D. &c. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 119 assembled together, they will not be immediately brought to judgment, but the angels will keep them iu their ranks and order while they attend for that purpose : and this attendance some say is to last forty years, others seventy, others three hundred, nay some say no less than fifty thousand years, each of them vouching their prophet's authority. During this space they will stand looking up to heaven, but without receiving any information or orders thence, and are to suffer grievous torments, both the just and the unjust, though with manifest difference. For the limbs of the former, particularly those parts which they used to wash in making the ceremonial ablution before prayer, shall shine gloriously, and their sufferings shall be light in comparison, and shall last no longer than the time necessary to say the appointed prayers ; but the latter will have their faces obscured with blackness, and disfigured with all the marks of sorrow and deformity. What will then occasion not the least of their pain, is a won- derful and incredible sweat, which will even stop their mouths, and in which they will be immersed in various degrees according to their demerits, some to the ankles only, some to the knees, some to the middle, some so high as their mouth, and others as their ears. And this sweat, they say, will be pro- voked not only by that vast concourse of all sorts of creatures mutually pressing and treading on one another's feet, but by the near and unusual approach of the sun, which will be then no farther from them than the distance of a mile, or (as some translate the word, the signification of which is ambiguous), than the length of a bodkin. So that their skulls will boil like a pot ', and they will be all bathed in sweat. From this inconvenience, however, the good will be protected by the shade of God's throne ; but the wicked will be so miserably tormented with it. 1 Al Ghazali. 120 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4- and also \vith hunger and thirst, and a stifling air, that they w ill cry out, Lord, deliver us from this anguish, though thou send us into htll^ire '. What they fable of the extraordinary heat of the sun on this occasion, the Mohammedans certainly borrowed from the Jews, who say that, for the punishment of the wicked on the last day, that planet shall be drawn forth from its sheath, in which it is now put up, lest it should destroy all things by its excessive heat -. When those who have risen shall have waited the limited time, the Mohammedans believe God will at length appear to judge them ; Mohammed under- taking the office of intercessor, after it shall have been declined by Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Jesus, who shall beg deliverance only for their own souls. They say that on this solemn occasion God will come in the clouds, surrounded by angels, and will produce the books wherein the actions of every person are recorded by their guardian angels ", and will com- mand the prophets to bear witness against those to whom they have been respectively sent. Then every one will be examined concerning all his words and actions, uttered and done by him in this life ; not as if God needed any information in those re- spects, but to oblige the person to make public con- fession and acknowledgment of God's justice. The particulars of which they shall give an account, as Mohammed himself enumerated them, are ; of their time, how they spent it ; of their wealth, by what means they acquired it, and how they employed it ; of their bodies, wherein they exercised them ; of their knowledge and learning, what use they made of them. It is said however that Mohammed has affirmed tliat no less than seventy thousand of his followers should be permitted to enter paradise ^v•ithout any previous examination ; which seems to be contradictory to \vhat is said above. To the ' '^1 fihazali. » V. Pocock, Not. in Port. Mo&is, p. 277. 3 See before, p. OJ). Sect. 4.] THE FEELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 121 questions we have mentioned each person shall an- swer, and malce his defence in the best manner he can, endeavouring to excuse himself by casting the blame of his evil deeds on others ; so that a dispute shall arise even between the soul and the body, to which of them their guilt ought to be imputed : the soul saying, " O Lord, my body I received from thee ; for thou createdst me without a hand to lay hold with, a foot to walk with, an eye to see with, or an understanding to apprehend with, till I came and entered into this body ; therefore punish it eternally, but deliver me." The body on the other side will make this apology, " O Lord, thou createdst me like a stock of wood, having neither hand that I could lay hold with, nor foot that I could walk with, till this soul, like a ray of light, entered into me, and my tongue began to speak, my eye to see, and my foot to walk ; therefore punish it eternally, but deliver me." But God will propound to them the following parable of the blind man and the lame man, which, as well as the jjreceding dispute, was borrowed by the Mohammedans from the Jews \ A certain king having a pleasant garden, in which were ripe fruits, set two persons to keep it, one of whom was blind, and the other lame, the former not being able to see the fruit, nor the latter to gather it ; the lame man, however, seeing the fruit, persuaded the blind man to take him upon his shoulders ; and by that means he easily gathered the fruit, which they divided between them. The lord of the garden coming some time after, and inquiring after his fruit, each began to excuse himself; the blind man said he had no eyes to see with ; and the lame man that he had no feet to approach the trees. But the king ordering the lame man to be set on the blind, passed sentence on and punished them both. And in the same manner will God deal with the body ' Gemara, Sanhedr. c. 11. R. Jos. Albo, Serm. IV. c. 33. See also Epiphan, in Ancorat. Sect. 89. 122 THE FRELIMINAllY DISCOUKSE. [Sect. 4. and the soul. As these apologies will not avail on that (lay, so -will it also be in vain for any one to deny his evil actions, since men and angels and his own members, nay the very earth itself, will be ready to bear witness against him. Though the iVIohammedans assign so long a space for the attendance of the resuscitated before their trial, yet they tell us the trial itself will be over in much less time, and, according to an expression of Mohammed, familiar enough to the Arabs, Avill last no longer than while one may milk an ewe, or than the space between the two milkings of a she-camel i. Some, explaining those words so frequently used in the Koran, " God will be swift in taking an account," say that he will judge all creatures in the space of half a day, and others that it will be done in less time than the twinkling of an eye -. At this examination they also believe that each person will have the book wherein all the actions of his life are written delivered to him ; which books the righteous will receive in their right hand, and read with great pleasure and satisfaction ; but the ungodly will be obliged to take them against their wills in their left 3, which will be bound behind their backs, their right hand being tied up to their necks ^. To show the exact justice which will be observed on this great day of trial, the next thing they de- scribe is the balance, wherein all things shall be weighed. They say it will be held by Gabriel, and that it is of so vast a size, that its two scales, one of which hangs over paradise, and the other over hell, are capacious enough to contain both heaven and earth. Though some are willing to understand what is said in the Koran concerning this balance ' The Arabs use, after they have drawn some milk from the camel, to wait awhile, ami let her younj; one suck a little, that she may give down her milk mure ijlentifuUy at the secoiul inilkiuj^. ■' I'ocock, Not. in I'ort. JMosis, ]). 27«--2Jf2. Sec also Kor. c. i!. p. \\\. i Kor. c. 17, 1 Kor. c. 23, 7, &e. '^ Midrash, Yalkut Sheniuni, f. 153. c. 3. 3 Geinar. Sanhedr. f. [)\, ^c. 4 Exod. xxxii. 32, 33. Dan. vii. 10. Revel, xx. 12, &c. and Dan. v. 27. s Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245, 401, &c. 124 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Scct. 4. This examination being i)ast, and every one's works weiglied in a just balance, that mutual re- taliation will follow, according- to which every crea- ture will take vengeance one of another, or have satisfaction made them for the injuries which they have suffered. And since there will then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving this satisfaction will be, by taking away a proportion- able part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it. AVhich being done, if the angels (by whose mi- nistry this is to be performed) say, " Lord, we have given to every one his due ; and there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the weight of an ant," God will of liis mercy cause it to be doubled unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise ; but if on the contrary his good Avorks be exliausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, God will order that an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished for them in their stead, and he will be sent to liell laden with both. This \vill be the method of God's dealing with mankind. As to brutes, after they shall liave likewise taken vengeance of one another, as we have mentioned above, he will command them to be clianged into dust ^ ; wicked men being reserved to more grievous punishment : so that they shall cry out, on hearing this sentence passed on the brutes, " Would to God that we were dust also !" As to the genii, many Mohammedans are of o})inion that such of them as are true believers will undergo the same fate as the irrational animals, and have no other re- ward than the favour of being converted into dust ; and for this they quote the authority of their pro- phet. But this, however, is judged not so very ' Vet tliey say the dog of the seven sleepers, and Ezra's ass, which was raised to life, will, by pecuhar favour, be admiitetl into paradise. See Kor. c. \li, and c. 3. p. 45. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 125 reasonable, since the genii, being capable of putting themselves in the state of believers as well as men, must consequently deserve, as it seems, to be re- warded for their faith, as well as to be punished for their infidelity. Wherefore some entertain a more favourable opinion, and assign the believing genii a place near the confines of paradise, where they will enjoy sufficient felicity, though they be not admitted into that delightful mansion. But the unbelieving genii, it is universally agreed, will be punished eter- nally, and be thrown into hell with the infidels of mortal race. It may not be improper to observe, that under the denomination of unbelieving genii, the Mohammedans comprehend also the devil and his companions \ The trials being over and the assembly dissolved, the Mohammedans hold, that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right hand way, and those who are destined to hell-fire will take the left, but both of them must first pass the bridge, called in Arabic, al Sirat, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and describe to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword ; so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it : for which reason most of the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a fable, though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a falsehood, meaning their pro- phet ; who, to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with briers and hooked thorns ; which will however be no impediment to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems leading the way ; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, ' V. Koran, c. 18. 126 THE PRELnilNArvY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. the entangling- of the thorns, and the extinction of the light which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them \ This circumstance Mohammed seems also to have borrowed from the Magians, who teach that on the last day all mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge which they call Pnl Chinavad, or Chinavar, that is, the strait bridge, leading directly into the other world ; on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed by God to perform that office, ^\•ill stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned '. It is true the Jews speak likewise of the bridge of hell, which they say is no broader than a thread ; but then they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the idolaters, who will fall thence into perdition ^. As to the punishment of the wicked, the Moham- medans are taught that hell is divided into seven stories, or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned \ The first, which they call Jehennam, they say will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one God, that is, the wicked Mohammedans, who after having there been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released. The second, named Ladha, they assign to the Jews ; the third, named al Hotama, to the Christians ; the fourth, named al Siiir, to the Sabians ; the fifth, named Sakar, to the Magians ; the sixth, named al Jahim, to the idolaters ; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst of all, and is called al Hawiyat, to the hypocrites, or those who outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none \ Over ' Pocock, ubi sup. p. 'JH'i— 2.">!). - Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245, 402, &c. 3 Midrash, Yalkut Ueubcni, ^ Gdiinnoni. ^ Kor. c. 15. ** Others fill these apartments witli tlifterent company. Some place in the second, the idolaters ; in the third, (Jog and Ulagog, &c. ; in tlie fourth, the devils ; in the fifth, those who neglect alms and prayers; and crowd tlic Jews, C'hristians, and Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 127 each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels % nineteen in number- ; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of God, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their pain, or that they may be de- livered by being annihilated ^. Mohammed has, in his Koran and traditions, been very exact in describing the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will suffer both from intense heat and excessive cold. We shall however enter into no detail of them here, but only observe that the degrees of these pains will also vary, in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the apartment he is condemned to ; and that he who is punished the most lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervour of which will cause his skull to boil like a caldron. The condition of these vm- happy wretches, as the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either life or death; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of being ever delivered from that place, since, accordino- to that frequent expression in the Koran, " they must remain therein for ever." It must be remarked, how- ever, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation, for the Moslems, or those who have embraced the true religion, and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence after they shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. The contrary of either of these opinions is reckoned he- retical ; for it is the constant orthodox doctrine of the Mohammedans that no unbeliever or idolater will ever be released, nor any person who in his lifetime professed and believed the unity of God be Magians together in the sixth. Some again will have tlie first to be prepared for the Dahnans, or those who deny the creation, and believe the eternity of the world ; the second, for the Dualists, or IManichees, and the idolatrous Arabs ; the third, for the Bramins of the Indies ; the fourth, for the Jews ; the fifth for the Christians ; and the sixth, for the Magians. But all agree in assigning the seventh to the hypocrites. V. Millium, de Mohammedismo ante Moham. p. 412. D'Herbel. Bibl, Orient, p. 368, &c. ' Kor. chap. 40, 43, 74, &c. ^ lb. c. 74. 3 Jb, c. 40, 43. 128 THE PREI.IMINAllV DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. condemned to eternal punishment. As to the time and manner of tlie deliverance of those believers whose evil actions sliall outweigh their good, there is a tradition of Mohammed that they shall be released after they shall have been scorched and their skins burnt black, and shall afterwards be admitted into paradise ; and when the inhabitants of that place shall, in contempt, call them ii.Jernah, God will, on their j)rayers, take from them that opprobrious ap- pellation. Others say he taught that while they continue in hell they shall be deprived of life, or (as his words are otherwise interpreted) be cast into a most i^rofound sleep, that they may be the less sensible of their torments ; and that they shall after- wards be received into paradise, and there revive on their being washed with the water of liji ; though some suppose they will be restored to life before they come fortli from their place of punishment, that at their bidding farewell to their pains, they may have some little taste of them. The time which these believers sliall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than nine hundred years, nor more than seven thousand. And as to the manner of their de- livery, they say that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will therefore have no power ; and that being known by this charac- teristic, they will be released by the mercy of God, at the intercession of Mohammed and the blessed ; whereupon those who shall have been dead will be restored to life, as has been said ; and those whose bodies shall have contracted any sootiness or filth from the flames and smoke of hell will be immersed in one of the rivers of paradise, called the river of If/e, whicli will wash them whiter than pearls '. > Poc. Nou in Port. Mosis, p. 28!(-291. Sect. 4.] TPIE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 12() For most of these circumstances relating to hell and the state of the damned, Mohammed was like- wise in all probability indebted to the Jews, and in part to the Magians ; both of whom agree in making seven distinct apartments in hell \ though they vary in other particulars. The former place an angel as a guard over each of these infernal apart- ments, and suppose he will intercede for the miser- able wretches there imprisoned, who will openly ac- knowledge the justice of God in their condemnation '. They also teach that the wicked will suffer a diver- sity of punishments, and that by intolerable cold ' as well as heat, and that their faces shall become black '; and believe those of their own religion shall also be punished in hell hereafter, according to their crimes, (for they hold that few or none will be found so ex- actly righteous as to deserve no punishment at all), but will soon be delivered thence, when they shall be sufficiently purged from their sins, by their father Abraham, or at the intercession of him or some other of the prophets \ The Magians allow but one angel to preside over all the seven hells, who is named by them Vanand Yezad, and, as they teach, assigns punishments proportionate to each person's crimes, restraining also the tyranny and excessive cruelty of the devil, who would, if left to himself, torment the damned beyond their sentence '. Those of this religion do also mention and describe various kinds of torments, wherewith the wicked will be punished in the next life ; among which though they reckon extreme cold to be one, yet they do not admit fire, out of respect, as it seems, to that element, which they take to be the representation of the divine na- ture ; and therefore they rather choose to describe • Nishmat hayim, f. 32. Oeniar. in Arubin, f. l!>. Zohar. ad Exod. xxvi. 2, &c. and Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245. > Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni, part 11, f. 116. 3 Zohar, ad Exod. xix. 4 Yalkut Shemuni, ubi sup. f. 86. 5 Nishmat hayim, f. 82. Gemar. Arubin, f. 19. V. Kor. c. 2, p. 15, and .3, p. 54, and notes there. 6 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 182. VOL. I. K 130 THE rilELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. the damned souls as suffering by other kinds of punishments : such as an intolerable stink, the sting- ing and biting of serpents and wild beasts, the cut- ting and tearing of the flesh b}' the devils, excessive hunger and thirst, and the like '. Before we proceed to a description of the Moham- medan paradise, \ve must not forget to say something of the wall or j3artition which they imagine to be between that place and hell, and seems to be copied from the great gulf of separation mentioned in scripture \ They call it al Orf, and more frequently in the plural, al Araf, a word derived from the verl) araja, which signifies to dist'i7Vi,ui' v. Eundcm, ib. p. .If)!), &c. - Luke xvi. Sfi. ' Jallalo'ddin, V. Kor. c. 7- * Al neidavi. Sect. 4.] THE PllELIMINATlY DISCOURSE. 131 without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom ; being excluded paradise for their dis- obedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs. The breadth of this partition wall cannot be sup- posed to be exceeding great, since not only those who shall stand thereon will hold conference Math the in- habitants both of paradise and of hell, but the blessed and the damned themselves will also be able to talk to one another K If Mohammed did not take his notions of the par- tition we have been describing from scripture, he must at least have borrov/ed it at second-hand from the Jews, who mention a thin wall dividing paradise from hell -. The righteous, as the Mohammedans are taught to believe, having surmounted the difficulties, and passed the sharp bridge above-mentioned, before they enter paradise will be refreshed by drinking at the j)o?id of their prophet, who describes it to be an exact square, of a month's journey in compass ; its water, which is supplied by two pipes from al Cawthar, one of the rivers of paradise, being whiter than milk or silver, and more odoriferous than musk, with as many cups set around it as there are stars in the firmament ; of which water whoever drinks will thirst no more for ever \ This is the first taste which the blessed will have of their future and now near approaching felicity. Though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a dispute among the Mo- hammedans whether it be already created, or be to be created hereafter ; the Motazalites and some other sec- taries asserting that there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise which the righteous will inhabit in the next life will be differ- ent from that from which Adam was expelled. How- • Koran, ubi sup. V. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 121, &c. ' ]\Iidrash, Yalkut Sioni, f. 11. 3 Al Gliaitali. K 2 l.S!2 TIIK niELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. ever the orthodox profess the contrary, inaiiitaiiiiiig that it Mas treated even before the \vorld, and de- scribe it, from their ])rophet's traditions, in the fol- h)\ving manner. 'J^hey say it is situate above the seven heavens (or in the seventh heaven), and next under the throne of God ; and to express the amenity of the place tell us, tiiat the earth of it is of the finest \\heat flour, or of the purest musk ; or, as others will have it, of saffron ; that its stones are j)carls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver, and that the trunks of all its trees are of ffold ; amon«: which the most remarkable is the tree called Tuba, or the tree of lutppiness. Concerning this tree they fable that it stands in the palace of Mohammed, though a branch of it will reach to the house of every true believer ' ; that it will be loaden with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits of surprising bigness, and of tastes unknown to mortals. So that if a man desire to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented him, or if he choose flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, according to his wish. They add, that the boughs of this tree will spontaneously ])end down to the hand of the })erson who would gather of its fruits, and that it will supply the blessed not only Mith food, but also with silken garments, and beasts to ride on ready saddled and bridled, and adorned with rich trappings, which will burst forth from its fruits ; and that this tree is so large, that a person mounted on the fleetest horse would not be able to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in a hundred years -. As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a j)rincipal orna- ment thereof: some of these rivers, they say, i\o\y ' Valiv;u in Kor. c. 13. ' Jallalo'cUliii, ib. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 13.3 with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with Iioney ; all taking their rise from the root of the tree Tuba ; two of which rivers, named al Cawthar and the riv(^r of life, we have already mentioned. And, lest these should not be suf- ficient, we are told this garden is also watered by a great number of lesser springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of cam- phire, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron ; the most remarkable among them being Salsabil and Tasnim. ]3ut all these glories will be eclipsed by the re- splendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes. Hiir al oyim, the enjoy- ment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful. These, they say, are created, not of clay, as mortal women are, but of pure musk ; being, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all natural impurities, defects, and inconveniences incident to the sex, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than four parasangs (or, as others say, sixty miles) long, and as many broad. The name which the Mohammedans usually give to this happy mansion is al Jannat, or the garden; and sometimes they call it, with an addition, Jannat al Ferdaws, tlie garden of paradise, Jannat Aden, the garden of Eden (though they generally inter- pret the word Eden, not according to its acceptation in Hebrew, but according to its meaning in their own tongue, wherein it signifies a settled or perj)e- tiial habilation), Jannat al Mawa, the garden of abode, Jannat al Naim, the garden of pleasure, and the like ; by which several appellations some under- stand so many different gardens, or at least places of different degrees of felicity (for they reckon no less than a hundred such in all), the very meanest whereof will aflbrd its inhabitants so many pleasures 134 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect 4. and delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not Mohannned declared, that in order to qualify the blessed for a full enjoy- ment of them, God will give to every one the abilities of a hundred men. We have already described Mohammed's pond, Avhereof the righteous are to drink before their ad- mission into this delicious seat ; besides which some authors • mention two fountains, springing from under a certain tree near the gate of paradise, and say that the blessed will also drink of one of them, to purge their bodies and carry oft' all excrementitious dregs, and will wash themselves in the other. When they are arrived at the gate itself, each person will there be met and saluted by the beautiful youths appointed to serve and wait upon him, one of them running before, to carry the news of his arrival to the wives destined for him ; and also by two angels, bearing the presents sent him by God, one of whom will invest him with a garment of paradise, and the other will put a ring on each of his fingers, with in- scriptions on them alluding to the happiness of his condition. By which of the eight gates (for so many they suppose paradise to have) they are respectively to enter, is not worth inquiry ; but it must be ob- served that Mohammed has declared that no person's good works will gain him admittance, and that even himself shall be saved, not by his merits, but merely by the mercy of God. It is, however, the constant doctrine of the Koran, that the felicity of each per- son will be proportioned to his deserts, and that there will be abodes of different degrees of l!a])piness ; the most eminent degree being reserved for the prophets, the second for the doctors and teachers of God's worship, the next for the martyrs, and the lower for the rest of the righteous, according to their several merits. There will also some distinction be nuule in ' A\ (Jhazali, Kenz al Afrar. Sect. 4.] THE PREI.IMINAIIY DISCOURSE. 135 respect to the time of their admission ; Mohammed (to whom, if you will believe him, the gates will first be opened) having affirmed, tliat the poor will enter paradise five hundred years before the rich : nor is this the only privilege which they will enjoy in the next life ; since the same prophet has also de- clared, that when he took a view of paradise, he saw the majority of its inhabitants to be the poor, and when he looked down into hell, he saw the greater part of the wretches confined there to be women. For the first entertainment of the blessed on their admission, they fable that the whole earth will then be as one loaf of bread, which God will reach to them with his hand, holding it like a cake ; and that for meat they will have the ox Balam, and the fish Niin, the lobes of whose livers will suffice seventy thousand men, being, as some imagine, to be set before the principal guests, viz. those who, to that number, will be admitted into paradise without exa- mination ' ; though others suppose that a definite number is here put for an indefinite, and that nothing more is meant thereby than to express a great mul- titude of people. From this feast every one will be dismissed to the mansion designed for him, where (as has been said) he will enjoy such a share of felicity as will be pro- portioned to his merits, but vastly exceed compre- hension or expectation ; since the very meanest in paradise (as he who, it is pretended, must know best, has declared) will have eighty thousand servants, seventy-two wives of the girls of paradise, besides the Vvives he had in this world, and a tent erected for him of pearls, jacinths, and emeralds, of a very large extent ; and, according to another tradition, will be ^raited on by three hundred attendants while he eats, will be served in dishes of gold, whereof three hundred shall be set before him at once, con- ' See bdore, p. 129. 136 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. tainiiig each a different kind of food, tlie last morSel of which will be as grateful as the first ; and will also be sui)plied with as many sorts of liquors in vessels of the same metal : and, to complete the en- tertainment, there will be no want of wine, which, though forbidden in this life, will yet be freely allowed to be drank in the next, and without danger, since the wine of paradise will not inebriate, as that we drink here. The flavour of this wine we may conceive to be delicious without a descrij)tion, since the water of Tasnim, and the other fountains which will be used to dilute it, is said to be wonderfully sweet and fragrant. If any object to these pleasures, as an impudent Jew did to Mohammed, that so much eating and drinking must necessarily require proper evacuations, we answer, as the prophet did, that the inhabitants of paradise will not need to ease them- selves, nor even to blow their nose, for that all su- perfluities will be discharged and carried off by per- spiration, or a sweat as odoriferous as musk, after which their appetite shall return afresh. The magnificence of the garments and furniture promised by the Koran to the godly in the next life is answerable to the delicacy of their diet : for they are to be clothed in the richest silks and brocades, chiefly of green, which \vi\\ burst forth from the fruits of ])aradise, and will be also supplied by the leaves of the tree Tuba ; the)^ will be adorned with bracelets of gold and silver, and crowns set with pearls of incomparable lustre ; and will make use of silken carpets, litters of a prodigious size, couches, pillows, and other rich furniture embroidered with gold and precious stones. That we may the more readily believe Avhat has been mentioned of the extraordinary abilities of the inhabitants of paradise to taste these pleasures in their height, it is said they will enjoy a perpetual j'outh ; that in whatever age they lia])])en to die, they M ill be raised in their prijnc and vigour, that Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 137 is, of about thirty years of age, which age they will never exceed (and the same they say of the damned), and that when they enter paradise they Avill be of the same stature with Adam, who, as they fable, was no less than sixty cubits high. And to this age and stature their children, if they shall desire any (for otherwise their wives will not conceive), shall imme- diately attain ; according to that saying of their pro- phet, " If any of the faithful in paradise be desirous of issue, it shall be conceived, born, and grown up, within the space of an hour. And in the same manner, if any one shall have a fancy to employ himself in agriculture (which rustic pleasure may suit the wanton fancy of some), what he shall sow will spring up and come to maturity in a moment. Lest any of the senses should want their proper delight, we are told the ear will there be entertained, not only with the ravishing songs of the angel Israfil, who has the most melodious voice of all God's creatures, and of the daughters of paradise ; but even the trees themselves will celebrate the divine praises with a harmony exceeding whatever mortals have heard ; to which will be joined the sound of the bells hanging on the trees, which will be put in motion by the wind proceeding from the throne of God, so often as the blessed wish for nnisic : nay, the very clashing of the golden-bodied trees, whose fruits are pearls and emeralds, will sur- pass human imagination ; so that the pleasures of this sense will not be the least of the enjoyments of paradise. The delights we have hitherto taken a view of, it is said, will be common to all the inhabitants of para- dise, even those of the lowest order. What then, think we, must they enjoy who shall obtain a supe- rior degree of honour and felicity ? To these, they say, there are prepared, besides all this, " such things as eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive ;" an ex- 138 THE VKEI.IMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Scit. 4. pressioii most certainly borrowed from scripture '. That we may know wherein the felicity of those who shall attain the highest degree vvill consist, Moham- med is reported to have said, that the meanest of the inhabitants of })aradise will see his gardens, wives, servants, furniture, and other possessions, take up the space of a thousand years' journey (for so far and farther vdll the blessed see in tlie next life) ; but that he will be in the highest honour Avith God, M'ho shall behold his face morning and evening : and this favour al Ghazali supposes to be that addi- t'umal or swpcr abundant rcctvipcn.se, promised in the Koran % which will give such exquisite delight, that in respect thereof all the other pleasures of paradise will be forgotten and lightly esteemed ; and not without reason, since, as the same autlior says, every other enjoyment is equally tasted by the very brute beast who is turned loose into luxuriant pasture '. The reader will observe, by the way, that this is a full confutation of those who pretend the Moham- medans admit of no spiritual pleasure in the next life, but make the liappiness of the blessed to consist wholly in corporeal enjoyments '. Whence iviohammed took the greatest part of his paradise, it is easy to s1iom\ The Jews constantly describe the future mansion of the just as a deli- cious garden, and make it also reach to the seventh heaven ; they also say it has three gates'', or, as others will have it, two', and four rivers (which last circumstance they copied, to be sure, from those of the garden of Eden "), flowing with milk, wine, bal- sam, and honey . Their Behemoth and Leviathan, which they pretend will be slain for the entertain- ment of the blessed '", are so apparently the Balam ' Isaiah, Ixiv. -J. I Ci>ri:,th. ii. !>. '^ Lhap. x. &c ^ V. Poc. in not. ad Port. Mo?is, p. 30i.. -i V. Rdra.d. tk- Rel. 3Ioh. 1. 2. § 17- s V. Geninr. Taiiiih, f. '2b. IJeracoth, f ^4, and RJidrash sabboth, f. Ii7. '* Megillah, A'l.kttlli, p. 1%. ' Midrat-h, Yalkut Slieniuni. ** Geneai-, ii. 10, ^c. " 31iilrasli, Yalk. Sheni. "■ Gcniar. B.iva Bathra. f. 78 Ra-lii, in Jobov. Lit. Tiircar. p. 21. Sect. 4.] THE niELIMlMARY DTSCOUllSE. 141 acceptation ; to prove which I need only urge the oath they exact from Christians (who they know ab- hor such fancies) when they would bind them in the most strong and sacred manner ; for in such a case they make them swear that if they falsify their en- gagement they will affirm that there will be black- eyed girls in the next world, and corporeal plea- sures \ Before we quit this subject, it may not be impro- per to observe the falsehood of a vulgar imputation on the Mohammedans, wdio are by several writers = reported to hold that women have no souls, or, if they have, that they will perish, like those of brute beasts, and will not be rewarded in the next life. But whatever may be the opinion of some ignorant people among them, it is certain that Mohammed had too great a respect for the fair sex to teach such a doctrine; and there are several passages in the Koran which affirm that women, in the next life, will not only be punished for their evil actions, but will also receive the rewards of their good deeds, as well as the men, and that in this case God will make no distinction of sexes '. It is true, the general no- tion is, that they will not be admitted into the same abode as the men are, because their places will be supplied by the paradisiacal females (though some alloAV that a man will there also have the company of those who were his wives in this world, or at least such of them as he shall desire ') ; but that good women will go into a separate place of happiness, where they will enjoy all sorts of delights'; but whether one of those delights will be the enjoy- ment of agreeable paramours created for them, to complete the economy of the Mohammedan system, 1 Poc. ad Port. Mos. p. [i05. '^ Hornbek, Sum. Contr. p. KJ. Grelot, Voyage de Constant, p. 275. Ricaut's Present State of the Ottoman Empire, 1. 2. c. 21. 3 See Kor. c. 3. p. 83. c. 4, p. 107- And also c. 13, 16, 40, 48, 57, &c. V. etiam Reland. de Rel. Moh. 1. 2. § 18. and Hyde, in Not. ad Bobov. de Visit. yEgr. p. 21. <» See before, p. 135. 5 V. Char- din, Vov. tom. ii. p. 3'28. and Bayle, Diet. Hist. Art. Mahomet, Rem. Q. 142 THE PKELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. is what I have nowhere found decided. One cir- cumstance relating to these beatified females, con- formable to what he had asserted of the men, he acquainted his followers with in the answer he re- turned to an old woman ; who desiring him to in- tercede with God, that she might be admitted into paradise, he told her that no old woman would enter that place ; which setting the poor woman a crying, he explained himself by saying, that Ciod would then make her young again '. The sixth great point of faith, which the Mo- hammedans are taught by the Koran to believe, is God's absolute decree, and predestination both of good and evil. For the orthodox doctrine is, that whatever hath or shall come to pass in this ^^orld, whether it be good, or whetlier it be bad, proceedeth entirely from the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from all eternity in the preserved table'-; God having secretly predetermined not only the adverse and prosperous fortune of every person in this world, in the most minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity, his obedience or disobe- dience, and consequently his everlasting happiness or misery after death ; which fate or predestination it is not possible, by any foresight or wisdom, to avoid. Of this doctrine Mohammed makes gi'eat use in his Koran, for the advancement of his designs : en- couraging his followers to fight without fear, and even desperately, for the propagation of their faith, by representing to them that all their caution could not avert their inevitable destiny, or prolong their lives for a moment'; and deterring them from dis- obeying or rejecting him as an impostor, by setting before them the danger they might thereby incur of being, by the just judgment of God, abandoned to ' See Koran, c. r>fi, and the notes there ; aid Gagnicr. not. in Abulfeda? Vit. Moll. p. 146. » See before, p. «R. 3 Kor. c 3, p. 74, 70, and c. 1, p. f».'», Kor. c. 4, p. 95 and 112 13. And e. 2, p. 3, &c. passim. * Sect. VIIL 3 Kor. c. 4, p. 94, and c. 5, p. 1 18. V. Reland. de Rel. IMoh. 1. I.e. 8. 144 THE PKELiMiXAUv DiscouitsK. [Sect. 4, great measure with those used by that nation ^ who in process of time burthened the precepts of Moses in this point with so many traditionary ceremonies, that whole books have been written about them, and who were so exact and superstitious therein even in our Saviour's time, that they are often reproved by him for it '. But as it is certain that the pagan Arabs used histrations of this kind', long before the time of Mohammed, as most nations did, and still do in the east, where the warmth of the climate requires a greater nicety and degree of cleanliness than these colder parts ; perhaps Mohammed only recalled his countrymen to a more strict observance of those purifying rites, which had been probably neglected by them, or at least performed in a care- less and perfunctory manner. The ]\lohannnedans, however, will have it that they are as ancient as Abraham ', who, they say, was enjoined by God to observe them, and was showed the manner of making the ablution by the angel Gabriel, in the form of a beautiful youth . Nay some deduce the matter higher, and imagine that these ceremonies were taught our first ])arents by the angels ". That his followers might be the more punctual in this duty, Mohannned is said to have declared, that i/ie praclkc of reUgioii is Jhimchd on cleanliness^ which is the one half of the Jaith, and tlw hey of 'prayer, without which it will not be heard by God'. That these expressions may be the better under- stood, al Ghazali reckons four degrees of purifica- tion ; of which the first is, the cleansing of the body from all pollution, filth, and excrements ; the second, ' Poc. not. in Port. 3Iosis, p. 3.">f;, iS:c. » I\Iark vii. M, &c. 3 V. He- rodot. I. ;{, c. 19}!. ' Al .Tannabi in Vita Abrali. \ . Poc. Spec. p. 303. ■■ Herewith agrees tlic spurious Gospel of S. lianiJiha*, the Spani.sh translation of which (chap. 29.) lias these words. D'lxo Abraliani Que Ituri. yo jxira scrvir al D'los (k Ids sanrto.i y prophctas ? Jicyioiidid cl (/iiffcl, Vc a tiqitflUi fttcntc y hnuU; pon/iii: Dion ijitirrr Itahhir cuiitigu. Di.io Abraliam, Cmiio iriiffO dc la- varvif ? Liirffd rl iitigtl sr Ir apparcnb como una licUo manccbo, y sc Uivo en la fiu-ntf, y It: tH.ro, Abniliam, liti:: ctmio yo. V Abraliani sf laiii, &c. ^ Al Kessrti. V. Kcland. de Kel. Mohaniin. p. 81. ' Al Ghazali, Ebn al Athir. Sect. 4.] THE rJJELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 145 the cleansing of the members of the body from all wickedness and unjust actions ; the third, the cleans- ing of the heart from all blamable inclinations, and odious vices ; and the fourth, the purging of a man's secret thoughts from all affections which may divert their attendance on God : adding, that the body is but as the outward shell in respect to the heart, which is as the kernel. And for this reason he highly complains of those who are superstitiovisly solicitous in exterior purifications, avoiding those persons as unclean who are not so scrupulously nice as themselves, and at the same time have their minds lying waste, and overrun with pride, ignorance, and hypocrisy '. Whence it plainly appears with how little foundation the Mohammedans have been charged, by some writers', with teaching or ima- gining that these formal washings alone cleanse them from their sins \ Lest so necessary a preparation to their devotions should be omitted, either where water cannot be had, or when it may be of prejudice to a person's health, they are allowed in such cases to make use of fine sand or dust in lieu of it ^ ; and then they perform this duty by clapping their open hands on the sand, and passing them over the parts, in the same manner as if they were dipped in water. But for this expedient Mohammed was not so much in- debted to his own cunning ', as to the example of the Jews, or perhaps that of the Persian Magi, al- most as scrupulous as the Jews themselves in their lustrations, who both of them prescribe the same method in cases of necessity '; and there is a famous ' V. Poc. Spec. p. 302, &.c. * Barthol. Edessen. Confut. Hagaien. p. 360. G. Sionita and J. Hesronita, in Tract, de Urb. et 3Iorib. Orient, ad Calcem. Geogr. Nubians, c- 15. Du Ryer, dans le Sommaire de la I^el. des Turcs, mis a la Tete de sa Version de I'Alcor. St. Olon, Descr. du Royavune de Maroc, c. 2. Hyde, in Not. ad Bobov. de Prec. Moh. p. 1. Smith, de jiiorib. et Instit. Turcar. Ep. 1. p. 32. 3 V. Reland. de Rel. Moh. 1. 2. c. 11. 4 Koran, c. 3. p. 91. and 5. p. 118. s V. Smith, ubi sup. '' Gemar. lierachoth. c. 2. V. Poc. not. ad Port, IMo.v,?, p. 38y. Sadder, porta iH. VOL. I. h 146 Tin: pkkllminarv discourse. [Sect. 4. instance, in ecclesiastical history, of sand being used, for the same reason, instead of \vater, in the admi- nistration of the Christian sacrament of baptism, many years before Mohammed's time '. Neither are the jVIoliammedans contented with bare washing, but think themselves obliged to seve- ral other necessary points of cleanliness. Avhich they make also parts of this duty ; sucli as combing the hair, cutting the beard, paring the nails, pulling out the hairs of their arm-pits, shaving tlieir private parts, and circumcision ' ; of which last I v.ill add a word or two, lest I should not find a more proper place. Circumcision, though it be not so much as once mentioned in the Koran, is yet held by the Moham- medans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed by the religion of Islam, and though not so abso- lutely necessary but that it might be dispensed with in some cases \ yet highly proper and exi)edient. The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mo- hammed, having j)robably learned it from Ismael, though not only his descendants, but the Hamva- rites % and other tribes, practised the same. The Ismaelites, we are told ', used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, as is the custom of the Jews, but when about twelve or thirteen years old, at which age their father underwent that opera- tion : and the Mohammedans imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they be able, at least, distinctly to jn-onounce that profession of their faith, There is no God bu/ God, Mohammed is the apostle 0/ God ' ; but pitch on what age tliev please for the ])urpose between six and sixteen, or there- abouts . 'J'hough the Moslem doctors are generally of opinion, conformably to the Scripture, that this ' Cedrcn. p. •>-,(). ■' V. Poc Spec. p. ."{O.?. 3 V. Bobov. de Cir- ciimcis p. '2-2. J Philostorg. Hist. EccJ. lib. X 5 Joseph. Ant. 1. 1, c. 2.3. fi Genes, xvii. 2'). 7 V. Bobov. ubi sup. and For. Spec, p. .3.«. « v. Rcland. de Rcl. Mob. I. I. p. "Jo. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 147 precept was originally given to Abraham, yet some have imagined that Adam was taught it by the angel Gabriel, to satisfy an oath he had made to cut off that flesh which, after his fall, had rebelled against his spirit ; whence an odd argument has been drawn for the universal obligation of circumcision \ Though I cannot say the Jews led the Mohammedans the way here, yet they seem so unwilling to believe any of the principal patriarchs or prophets before Abra- ham were really uncircumcised, that they pretend several of them, as well as some holy men who lived after his time, were born ready circumcised, or without a foreskin, and that Adam, in particular, was so created-; whence the Mohammedans affirm the same thing of their prophet \ Prayer was by Mohammed thought so necessary a duty, that he used to call it the pillar of religio//, and the kez/ of paradise ; and when the Thakifites, who dwelt at Tayef, sending in the ninth year of the Hejra to make their submission to that prophet, after the keeping of their favourite idol had been denied them^ begged, at least, that they might be dispensed with as to their saying of the appointed prayers, he answered, That there could be no good in that religion wlicrein icas no prayer". That so important a duty, therefore, might not be neglected, Mohammed obliged his followers to pray five times every twenty-four hours, at certain stated times ; viz. 1. In the morning, before sunrise : 2. When noon is past, and the sun begins to decline » This is the substance of the followiiis; passage of the Gospel of Barnabas, (chap. 23.) viz. Enioncrs d'l.vo Jesus ; Adam el prime}- homhre avkndo comido par enganu del demmiio la com'ida proliihida por Dio.s en el paraijso, se le rcbelb m carnc a su espiritu ; por lu qiial juro dlrkiido, Por Dios que yo te qiiiero cortar; y rompiendo una plcdra tomo su came para cortarla con el carte de la piedra. Por loqual fue reprchendido del angel Gabriel, y el le dixo ; Yo he jurado por Dios que lo he de cortar, y mcntiroso no le sere jamas. Ala hora cl angel le enseno la supcrfluidud de su came, y a qneila cortb. De manera qm ansi coma todo homhre toma came de Adam, ansi esta ohligado a cumplir aquello que Adam con juramento promctib. - Shalsliel. hakkabala. V. Poc. Spec. p. 320. Gagnier, Not. in Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 2. 3 V. Poc. Spec p 304. 4 See before, p. 23, 24. s Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 127- L 3 14S rHK I'Hl'.l.miXAKY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. from the iiiericlian : 3. In the afternoon, before sun- set : 4. In the evening, after sun-set, and before day be shut in : and, 5. After the day is shut in, and be- fore the first watch of the night '. For this institu- tion he pretended to have received tlie divine com- mand from the throne of God himself, \A'hen he took Jiis niglit journey to heaven : and the observing of the stated times of prayer is frequently insisted on in the Koran, though they be not particularly j)rcscribed therein. Accordingly, at the aforesaid times, of which public notice is given by the Muedhdhins, or Criers, from the steeples of their ISIosques (for they use no bells), every conscientious Moslem prepares himself for prayer, Avhich he performs either in the Mosque or any other place, provided it be clean, after a prescribed form, and with a certain number of praises or ejaculations (which the more scrupulous count by a string of beads), and using certain pos- tures of worship ; all which have been particularly set down and described, though with some few mis- takes, by other writers , and ouglit not to be abridged unless in some special cases ; as on a journey, on preparing for battle, &c. For the regular performance of the duty of prayer among the Mohammedans, besides the particulars above-mentioned, it is also requisite that tiiey turn their faces, while tliey pray, towards the temi)le of Mecca ; the quarter where the same is situate being, for that reason, pointed out \\ithin their Mosques by a niche, which they call al IMehrAb, and without, by the situation of the doors opening into the galleries of the steeples : there are also tables calculated for the ready finding out their Keblah, or part tOAvards which they ought to pray, in places where they have no other direction'. • V. Abulfed. Vit. I\Ioh. p. 38, :i9. ^ V. Hotting. Hit,t. EccLs. Tom. «. J). 470 — i>2i}. lidboy. in Liturg. Turcic. p. 1, Ac. Grtlct, Voyage de Constant. p. 2^)3— 2«;4. (hardin, \'oy. tie Perse, Tom. II. p. S8«, kc. and Smith, ilo MoribuK ac Instit. Tuicar. Ep. 1, p. 33, &c. J Koian, chap. 2, p. *24. See the notes there « V. Hyde, de Ivol. Vet. P>.ms. p. !!, !), and l'2G. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 149 But what is principally to be regarded in the dis- charge of this duty, say the Moslem doctors, is the inward disposition of the heart, which is the life and spirit of prayer ' ; the most punctual observance of the external rites and ceremonies before-mentioned being of little or no avail, if performed without due attention, reverence, devotion, and hope ' : so that we must not think the Mohammedans, or the consi- derate part of them at least, content themselves with the mere opus operatuin, or imagine their whole reli- gion to be placed tlier(?in '. I had like to have omitted two things which in my mind deserve mention on this head, and may, perhaps, be better defended than our contrary ])rac- tice. One is, that the Mohammedans never address themselves to God in sumptuous apparel, though they are obliged to be decently clothed ; but lay aside their costly habits and pompous ornaments, if they wear any, when they approach the divine pre- sence, lest tliey should seem proud and arrogant '. The other is, that they admit not their women to pray with them in public ; that sex being obliged to perform their devotions at home, or if they visit tlic mosques, it must be at a time when the men are not there : for the Moslems are of opinion that their presence inspires a different kind of devotion frciii that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of God \ ' A\ Giiazali. 2 V. Poc. Spec. p. 305. 3 V. Smith, ubi sun p. 40. 4 Relanil, de Rel. Moh. p. 90. See Kor. chap. 7- * A Sloor, named Ahmed Ebu Abdalla, in a Latin epistle by him written to IMaurice prince of Orange, and Emanuel prince of Portugal, contiiining a censure of the Christian religion (a coj>y of v/hich once belonging to Mr. Selden, who has thence tran- scribed a consiclci able passage in his Treatise De Synedriis Vett. Ebrjsor. 1. 1, c. 12, is now in the i'odleian libary), finds great fault with the unedifying manner in which mass is said among the Roman Catholics, for tliis very reason among others. His words are : UMciniqiie congreganiur simul viri et fcpminfF. ihi mens non est intcnta et devota : nam inter celehrandum niissam et .iacrtftc:a, fwmince'et viri imituis aspcctihiis, signis, ac nutibiis acveinhint pravoriim npje- tltum. et desiderioritm suorum ignrs : rt quando hoc non Jlctet, saltern humana fragilitas delectatur mutuo ct rcriproco aspcciti ; et itn wm potent esse mem qnieta, atienta, c! dcvotn. 150 THE I'UELl.AIIXAllV DISCOI'USE. [Sect. 4. The greater part of the particulars comprised in the Mohainiiiedau institution of prayer their pro- phet seems to have copied from others, and espe- cially the Jews ; exceeding their institutions only iu the number of daily prayers'. The Jews are di- rected to pray three times a day , in the morning, in the evening, and within night ; in imitation of Abraham ^ Isaac , and Jacob': and the practice was as early, at least, as the time of Daniel ' . T'he several postures used by the Mohammedans in their prayers are also the same with those prescribed by tlie Jewish Rabbins, and particularly the most so- lemn act of adoration by prostrating themselves so as to touch the ground with their forehead ' ; not- withstanding the latter pretend the practice of the former, in this respect, to be a relic of their ancient manner of paying their devotions to Baal-Peor^ The Jews likewise constantly pray with their faces turned towards the temple of Jerusalem , which has been their Keblah from the time it was first dedicated by Solomon ' ; for which reason Daniel, praying in Chaldea, had the windows of his chamber open toAvards that city ^^ : and the same was the Keblah of Mohammed and his followers for six or seven months ■, and till he found himself obliged to change it for the Caaba. The Jews moreover are obliged by the precepts of their religion to be careful that the place they pray in, and tlie garments they have on Avhen they perform their duty be clean *^ ; the men and women also among them pray apart (in which particular they were imitated by the eastern Christians) ; and several other conformities miglit ' The Sabians, according to some, exceed the 3Iohammedans in this point, praying seven times a day. See before, p. 1!). - Gemar. Berachoth. 3 Genes, xix. 27. ' Genes, xxiv. ii'A. s Genes, xxviii. II, &c. '• Dan. vi. 10. ' \'\<\c 3Iillium, de INIohimimcdisiiio ante Moham. p. 427, &c. and Hyde, de Kel. \'e(. Pers. p. ."), ti.c. " ."\Iaimonid. in l^pist. ad Prosclyt. Reliji;. V. I'oc. Spec p. ."0(1. '-' (Jemav. Hava Hathra. and Berachoth. '" 1 Kings, viii. 2[), &c. " Dan. vi. 10. ''^ Some say eighteen months. V. Abulftd. Vit. Moh. p. 54. '3 .Maimon. in Halachi'ith.'Tephilla, c. !>, tj , &c. Chardin, Vov. de Perse, t. II. p. 41,-), J. c. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 153 the same, till, in process of time, other taxes and tributes being imposed for the support of the go- vernment, they seem to have been weary of acting as almoners to their subjects, and to have left the paying them to their consciences. In the foregoing rules concerning alms, we may observe also footsteps of what the Jews taught and practised in respect thereto. Alms, which they also call Sedaka, i. e. justice, or riL(]iieousii3Ss \ are greatly recommended by their Rabbins, and preferred even to sacrifices - ; as a duty the frequent exercise whereof will effectually free a man from hell fire ', and merit everlasting life * : wherefore, besides the corners of the field, and the gleanings of their harvest and vineyard, commanded to be left for the poor and the stranger by the law of Moses \ a certain portion of their corn and fruits is directed to be set apart for their relief, which portion is called the tithes of the poor '. The Jews likewise were formerly very conspicuous for their charity. Zaccheus gave the half of his goods to the poor 7; and we are told that some gave their whole substance : so that their doc- tors, at length, decreed that no man should give above a fifth part of his goods in alms^ There WQve also persons publicly appointed in every syna- gogue to collect and distribute the people's con- tributions •'. The third point of religious practice is fasting; a duty of so great moment, that Mohammed used to say it was " the gate of religion," and that " the odour of the mouth of him who fasteth is more grateful to God than that of musk ;" and al Ghaziili reckons fasting " one-fourth part of the faith." Ac- cording to the Mohammedan divines, there are three ' Hence alms are in the New Testament termed A:xj;ocrJv^. Matth. vi. 1. (Ed. Steph.) and 2 Co. ix. 10. 2 Geinar. in Bava batlira. ^ Ibid, in Gittin. 4 Ibid, in Rosli liashana. ■■ Levit xix. *), 10. Dent. xxiv. ^^■> &-'=• "^ V. Gemar. Hierosol. in Peah, and illainion. in Halaclioth niatanoth Aniyyim. c. G. Confer Pirke Avoth. v. 0. 7 Luke xix. y. de Pcrsc, t- 11. p. 423. s V. Chardiu, ib. p. 421, &c. IWaiid. dc Kelig. Aioli. p. 109. &c. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINAKY DISCOURSE. 155 the month of Ramadan happens to fall in summer, (for the Arabian year being lunar \ each month rims through all the different seasons in the course of thirty-three years), the length and heat of the days making the observance of it much more difficult and uneasy then than in winter. The reason given why the month of Ramadan Avas pitched on for this purpose is, that on that month the Koran wns sent down from heaven'^. Some pretend that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus received their respective revelations in the same month ^. From the fast of Ramadan none are excused, except only travellers and sick persoris (under which last denomination the doctors comprehend all whose health would manifestly be injured by their keeping the fast ; as women with child, and giving suck, ancient people, and young children) ; but then they are obliged, so soon as the impediment is removed, to fast an equal number of other days : and the breaking the fast is ordered to be expiated by giving alms to the poor \ Mohammed seems to have followed the guidance of the Jews in his ordinances concerning fasting, no less than in the former particulars. That nation, when they fast, abstain not only from eating and drinking, but from women, and from anointing themselves ', from daybreak until sunset, and the stars begin to appear ; spending the night in taking what refreshments they please^. And they allow women Math child and giving suck, old persons, and yoimg children, to be exempted from keeping most of the public fasts '". Though my design here be briefly to treat of those points only v.'hich are of indispensable obligation on ' See hereafter, 5:5 VI. - Kc-an, chap. 2. p. .j1. See also chap. 97- 3 Al Beidawi, ex Trad. Moharnniedis. -i See Koran, chap. 2. p. 81. sSiphra, fol. 252. 2. 6 Tosephoth ad Gemar. ^'oma, £ 34. ' V. Gemar. Yoma, f. 40, and Mamion. in Halachoth Tauioth, c. 5. § j. » V., (Tcniar. Tiinith, f. 12, and Yoma, fol. 83, and EsHayini, Tanitli, c. 1. 156 THE PRKLIMINAUy DISCOURSE. [Sect. i. a Moslem, and expressly required by the Koran, without entering into their practice as to vohintary and supcreroo-at(jry works ; yet to sho\\^ li()\\' closely Mohannned's institutions follow the Jewish, I shall add a word or two of the voluntary fasts of the JMohammcdans. 71iese are such as have been re- commended either by the example or approbation of their prophet ; and especially certain days of those months wliich they esteem sacred : there beino; a tradition that he used to say, That a fast of one day in a sacred month was better than a fast of thirty days in another month ; and that tlie fast of one day in Ramadan was more meritorious than a fast of thirty days in a sacred mouth . Among the more commendable days is that of Ashura, the tenth of Moharram ; vrhich, though some writers tell us it was observed by the Arabs, and particularly the tribe of Koreish, before Mohammed's time S yet, as others assure us, that pro])het borroA\ ed both the name and the fast from the Jews ; it being, with them, the tenth of the seventh month, or Tisri. and the great day of expiation conunanded to be kept by the law of Moses '. Al Kazwini relates, that when IVIohammed came to Medina and found the Jews there fasted on the day of Ashura, he asked them the reason of it ; and they told him, it was because on that day Pharaoh and his people were drowned, Moses, and those who were witli him, escaping : vvliereu])on he said, that he bore a nearer relation to Moses than they ; and ordered his followers to fast on that day. However, it seems, afterwards he Avas not so M'ell pleased in having imitated the Jews herein : and therefore declared, that if he lived an- other year, he Avould alter the day, and fast on the ninth, .-ibhorring so near an ao-reement with them ''. The ])ilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice, that, according to a tradition of ]\Io- ' Al Giiazali. - Al l>arezi. in Coninient. ad < )rat. Kbn Nobaiic. s Lcvii. xvi. '2'.) aiul xxiii. '2"/. l>bn al Atliir. \'. I'oioik. Spec. p. ;>'•:'. Sect. !•.] THE PKELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 157 hammed, he who dies without performing it may as well die a Jew or a Christian * ; and the same is expressly commanded in the Koran ". Before I speak of the time and manner of performing this pilgrimage, it may ha proper to give a short account of the temple of Mecca, the chief scene of the Mo- hammedan worship ; in doing which I need be the less prolix, because that ediiice has been already de- scribed by several writers ">, though they following different relations have been led into some mistakes, and agree not with one another in several parti- culars : nor, indeed, do the Arab authors agree in all things, one great reason whereof is their speak- ing of different times. The temple of Mecca stands in the midst of the city, and is honoured with the title of Masjad al alharam, i. e. the sacred or i/iriulabie temple. What is principally reverenced in this place, and gives sanctity to the whole, is a square stone building, called the Caaba, as some fancy from its he'iiijit, which surpasses that of the other buildings in Mecca \ but more probably from its quadran-i:idcir form, and Beit Allah, i. e. the house o/God, being peculiarly hallowed and set apart for his worship. The length of this edifice, from north to south, is twenty-four cubits, its breadth from east to west twenty-three cubits, and its height twenty-seven cubits : the door, which is on the east side, stands about four cubits from the ground ; the floor being level with the bottom of the door \ In the corner next this door is the black stone, of which I shall take notice by and by. On the north side of the Caaba, within a semicircular enclosure fifty cubits long, lies the white stone, said to be the sepulchre of Ismael, which re- ' Al Ghazali. '- Chap. 3. p. (JJ. See also chap. 22, and chap. 2, p. 22, &c. 3 Chardin, Yoj. de Perse, T. II. p. 428, &c. Bremond, Descrit- tioni dell 'Egitto, &c. 1. 1. c. 29. Pitt's Account of the Rel. &c. of the I\Ioha- metans, p. 98, &c. and Boulainviliiers, Via de Mahomed, p. 54, &c. which last author is the most particular. 4 Ahmed Ebn Yusef. 5 Sharif al Edrisi, and Kitab Ma^alec, apud Poc. Spec. p. 125, &c. 158 THE PRELIMINAHV DISC'OUKSE. [Sect. 4. ceives the raiji-water that falls oil' the Caaba by a spout, formerly of woodi, but now of gold. The Caaba has a double roof, supported ^^■ithill by three octaugular pillars of aloes wood : between which, on a bar of iron, hang some silver lamps. The outside is covered with I'ich black damask, adorned with an embroidered band of gold, which is changed every year, and was formerly sent by the Khalifs, after- wards by the Soltans of Egypt, and is now provided by the Turkish emperors. At a small distance from the Caaba, on the east side, is the station or place of Abraliam, where is another stone much respected by the Mohammedans, of which something \\'ill be said hereafter. The Caaba, at some distance, is surrounded, but not entirely, by a circular enclosure of pillars joined towards the bottom by a low balustrade, and towards the top by bars of silver. Just without this inner enclosure, on the south, north, and west sides of the Caaba, are three buildings, which are the oratories or places where three of the orthodox sects assemble to perform their devotions (the fourth sect, viz. that of al Shafei, making use of the station of Abraham for that purpose) ; and towards the south-east stands the edifice which covers the well Zemzem. the trea- sury, and the cupola of al Abbas . All these buildings are enclosed, at a considerable distance, by a magnificent piazza, or square colon- nade, like that of the Royal Excliange in London, but much larger, covered with small domes or cupolas ; from the four corners whereof rise as many Minarets or steeples, with double galleries, and adorned with gilded spires and crescents, as are the cupolas which cover the piazza and tiie other build- ings. Between the pillars of both enclosures hang a great number of lamps, M'hich are constantly lighted at night. The first foundations of this ' Sharif al Edrisi, ibid. ' Idem, ibid. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 159 outward enclosure were laid by Omar, the second Khalif, who built no more than a low wall, to prevent the court of the Caaba, which before lay open, from being encroached on by private buildings ; but the structure has been since raised, by the liberality of many succeeding princes and great men, to its present lustre ^ This is properly all that is called the temple, but the whole territory of Mecca being also Haram or sacred, there is a third enclosure, distinguished at certain distances by small turrets, some five, some seven, and others ten miles distant from the city ', Within this compass of ground it is not lawful to attack an enemy, or even to hunt or fowl, or cut a branch from a tree ; which is the true reason why the pigeons at Mecca are reckoned sacred, and not that they are supposed to be of the race of that imaginary pigeon which some authors, who should have known better, would persuade us Mohammed made pass for the Holy Ghost ^. The temple of Mecca was a place of worship, and in singular veneration with the Arabs from great antiquity, and many centuries before Mohammed. Though it was most probably dedicated at first to an idolatrous use% yet the Mohammedans are generally persuaded that the Caaba is almost coeval with the world ; for they say that Adam, after his expulsion from paradise, begged of God that he might erect a building like that he had seen there, called Beit al Ma- mur, or the frequented house, and al Dorah, towards which he might direct his prayers, and which he might compass, as the angels do the celestial one. Whereupon God let down a representation of that • Pol. Spec. p. UG. 2 Gol. Not. in Alfrag. p. 99. ' Gab. Sionita, et Joh. Ilesionita, de noninillis Orient. Urbib. ad Calc. Geogr. Nub. p. 21. Al Mogholtai, in )iis life of Mohammed, says the pigeons of the temple of 3Iecca are of the breed of those which laid their eggs at the mouth of the cave where the prophet and Abu Beer hid themselves, when they fled from that city. See before, p. (J9. * See before, p. 23. 160 THE rilEM.MIXAHV DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. house in curtains of light ', and set it in Mecca, perpendicularly under its original', ordering the patriarch to turn towards it when he prayed, and to con]j)ass it by way of devotion". After Adam's death, his son Seth built a house in the same form, of stones and clay, which being destroyed by the deluge, v.as rebuilt by Abraham and Ismael\ at God's command, in the place M'liere the former had stood, and after the same model, they being directed therein by revelation'. After this edifice had undergone several repara- tions, it M'as a few years after the birth of Mo- hammed rebuilt by the Koreish on the old founda- tion", and afterwards repaired by Abd'allah Ebn Zobeir, the Khalif of Mecca, and at length again rebuilt by Yusof, surnamed al Hejaj Ebn Yiisff, in the seventy-fourth year of the Hejra, with some alterations, in the form wherein it now remains". Some years after, however, the Khalif Harun al Rashid (or, as others write, his father al Mohdi, or his grandfather al Mansur), intended again to change what had been altered by al Hejaj. and to reduce the Caaba to the old form in which it A\'as left by Abd'allah ; but was dissuaded from meddling with it, lest so holy a place should become the sport of princes, and being new-modelled after every one's fancy, should lose that reverence which was justly paid it\ But notwithstanding the antiquity and ' Some say that ihj Beit al ^lamiir itself was the Caaba of Adam, which, having been let c'own to him from heaven, was, at the flood, tiiken up again into heaven, and is there kept. Al Zamakh. in Kor. c. 2- * Al Jiizi, ex Trad. Ebn Abbas. It has been observed, that the primitive Christian church held a parallel opinion as to the situation of the celestial .Jerusalem with respect to the terrestial : for in the apocryphal book of the revelations of S. Peter, (chap, xxvii.) after Jesus has mentioned unto Peter the creation of the seven heavens (wlieiuv, by the way, it appears tliat this number of heavens wfis not devised by JMo- hanimed), and of the angels, begins the desciiption of the heavenly .Jerusalem in these words : JCc liair cnaled the upper Jerusalem above the -caters -which are aboxe the third heaven, hanffinff d'lreelhj over the hrwer Jcriisnleiii, i^-c. V. Gagnier. Not. ad Abulfed. Vit. ^loh. ]>. 28. 3A1 Shahrestani. * V. Kor. chap. 2, p. 22, 2a. s Al Jannibi, in \'ita Abrah. 6 y, Abulfed. Vit. 3Ioh. p. \:i. ' Idem, in Hist. Gen. Al Jannabi, &c. " Al Jannabi. Sect. 4.] THE raELI?.riNARY DISCOURSE. I6l holiness of this building, they have a prophecy, by tradition from Mohammed, that in the last times the Ethiopians shall come and utterly demolish it ; after which it will not be rebuilt again for ever^ Before we leave the temple of Mecca, tv/o or three particulars deserve further notice. One is the celebrated black stone, which is set in silver, and fixed in the south-east corner of the Caaba, being that which looks toward Basra, about two cubits and one-third, or, which is the same thing, seven spans from the ground. This stone is exceedingly respected by the Mohammedans, and is kissed by the pilgrims with great devotion, being called by some the right hand of God on earth. They fable that it is one of the precious stones of paradise, and fell down to the earth with Adam, and being taken up again, or otherwise preserved at the deluge, the angel Gabriel afterwards brought it back to Abraham when he was building the Caaba. It was at first whiter than milk, but grew black long since by the touch of a menstruous woman, or, as others tell us, by the sins of mankind ^ or rather by the touches and kisses of so many people ; the superficies only being black, and the inside still remaining white'. When the Karmatians^ among other profanations by them offered to the temple of Mecca, took away this stone, they could not be prevailed on for love or money to restore it, though those of Mecca offered no less than five thousand pieces of gold for \t\ However, after they had kept it twenty-two years, seeing they could not thereby draw the pilgrims from Mecca, they sent it back of their own accord ; at the same time bantering its devotees by telling them it was not the true stone : but, as it is said, it » Idem, Ahmetl Ebn Yusef. V. Poc. Spec. p. 1 \b, &c. "■ Al Zamakh, &c. in Kor. Ahmed Ebn Yusef. ^ po^.. Spec. p. 117, &c. 4 These Karmatians were a sect which arose in the year of the ilejra 278, and whose opi- nions overturned the fundamental points of Mohammedism. See D'Herbelot's Bibl. O-iient. Art. Carmath, and hereafter, g VIII. 5 D'Herbe'. p 40 VOL. I. M 162 THE PREI-IMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. was proved to be no counterfeit ])y its peculiar qua- lity of swimming on water'. Another thing observable in this temple is the stone in Abraham's place, A^herein they pretend to show his footsteps, telling us he stood on it when he built the Caaba , and that it served him for a scaffold, rising and falling of itself as he had occa- sion'; though another tradition says he stood upon it while the wife of his son Ismael, whom he paid a visit to, washed his head '. It is now enclosed in an iron chest, out of which the pilgrims drink the water of Zemzem , and are ordered to pray at it by the Koran . The officers of the temjMe took care to hide this stone when the Karmatians toolc the other'. The last thing I shall take notice of in the temple is the well Zemzem on the east side of the Caaba, and which is covered with a small building and cupola. The Mohammedans are persuaded it is the very spring which gushed out for the relief of Ismael, when Hagar his mother wandered with him in the desert"; and some pretend it was so named from her calling to him, when she spied it, in the Egyi)tian tongue, Zem, zem, that is, Stay, stay'-, though it seems rather to have had the name from the mur- muring of its waters. Tlie water of this well is reckoned holy, and is highly reverenced ; being not only drank with particular devotion by the })ilgrims, but also sent in bottles, as a great rarity, to most parts of the Mohammedan dominions. Abd'allah, surnamed al Hafedh, from his great memory, par- ticularly as to the traditions of Mohammed, gave out that he acquired that faculty by drinking large draughts of Zemzem water", to which I reall}' ' Ahmed Ebii Yusef, Abulfeda. V. Poc. Spec. p. 1 19. « Abulfed. 3 v. Hyde, de Kcl. Vet. Pers. p. 35. * Ahmed Ebn Vu?cf, Safio'ddin. 5 Ahmed Kbn Yusef. « Chap. 2, p. 22. ' V. Poe. Spec. p. 120. ., &c. See also Pius's account of the vel. . 121. " Ebn al Athir. ' Sec Kor. chap. 2. p. X\. Sect. 4.] THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. l65 stay to perforin their devotions till sunset : then they !2'o to Mozdalifa, an oratory between Arafat and Mina, and there spend the night in prayer, and reading' the Koran. The next morning by day- break they visit al Masher al harani, or the saered moiuunenti, and departing thence before sunrise, haste by Batn Mohasser to the valley of Mina, where they tlirow seven stones- at three marks or pillars, in imitation of Abraham, who meeting the devil in that place, and being by him disturbed in his devotions, or tempted to disobedience, when he was going to sacrifice his son, was commanded by God to drive him away by throwing stones at him ' ; though others pretend this rite to be as old as Adam, who also put the devil to flight in the same place, and by the same means \ This ceremony being over, on the same day, the tenth of Dhu'lhajja, the pilgrims slay their victims in the said valley of Mina ; of which they and their friends eat j)art, and the rest is given to the poor. These victims must be either sheep, goats, kine, or camels ; males, if of either of the two former kinds, and females if of either of the latter, and of a fit age\ The sacrifices being over, they shave their heads and cut their nails, burying them in the same place ; after which the pilgrimage is looked on as completed ' : though they again visit the Caaba, to take their leave of that sacred building. The above-mentioned ceremonies, by the confession of the Mohammedans themselves, were almost all of them observed by the pagan Arabs many ages be- fore their prophet's appearance ; and particularly the compassing of the Caaba, the running between Safil and Merwa, and the throwing of the stones in Mina ; ' See Ivor. chap. 2, p. 33. Mr. Gagnier has been twice guilty of a mistake in confounding this monument with the sacred enclosure of the Caaba. V. Gagn. Not. ad Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 131, et Vie de Mah. t. 2, p. 2ri2. "- Dr. Pococlc, from al Ghazali, says seventy, at different times and places. Spec. p. 315. 3 Al Ghazuli, Aliwx'd Ebn Vuscf. i Ebn al Athir. s V. Rcland, ubi sup. p. 1 17- " Sfc Kor. chap. 2, p. o.i, 34. 166 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 4. and were confirmed by Mohammed, with some alter- ations in such points as seemed most exceptionable : thus, for example, he ordered that when they com- passed the Caaba, tliey should ha vlthed^ ; whereas before his time they performed that piece of devotion naked, throwing oif their clothes as a mark that they had cast off their sins -, or as signs of tlieir disobe- dience towards God . It is also acknowledged that the greater part of these rites are of no intrinsic worth, neither affecting the soul, nor agreeing with natural reason, but alto- gether arbitrary, and commanded merely to try the obedience of mankind, ^vithout any farther view ; and are therefore to be complied with, not that they are good in themselves, but because God has so ap- pointed \ Some, however, have endeavoured to find out some reasons for the arbitrary injunctions of this kind ; and one writer \ supposing men ought to imi- tate the heavenly bodies, not only in their purity, but in their circular motion, seems to argue the pro- fession round the Caaba to be therefore a rational practice. Reland ' has observed that the Romans had something like this in their worship, being or- dered by Numa to use a circular motion in the adora- tion of the gods, either to represent the orbicular motion of the world, or the perfecting the whole office of prayer to that Ciod who is maker of the uni- verse, or else in allusion to the Egyptian wheels, which were hieroglyphics of the instability of human fortune '. The pilgrimage to Mecca, and the ceremonies pre- scribed to those who perform it, are, perhaps, liable to greater exception than any other of Mohammed's ' Kor. chap 7. '^ A\ Fa'ik, de Tempore Ignor. Arabum, apuil Millium (Ic 3I(>h:i. ■* \. Sniitli, de ."Morib. et Instiu Tiircar. Ep. 2, [•. 2}>, &c. s V. Chardin, ubi supra, p. 212. Sect. 5.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 16*9 sale of that liquor. The Persians, however, as -well as the Turks, are very fond of wine ; and if one asks them how it comes to i)ass that they venture to drink it, when it is so directly forbidden by their religion, they answer, that it is with them as with the Christians, whose religion prohibits drunkenness and whoredom as great sins, and who glory, notwith- standing, some in debauching girls and married women, and others in drinking to excess '. It has been a question whether coffee comes not imder the above-mentioned prohibition ', because the fumes of it have some effect on the imagination. This drink, which was first publicly used at Aden, in Arabia Felix, about the middle of the ninth century of the Hejra, and thence gradually introduced into Mecca, Medina, Egypt, Syria, and other parts of the Levant, has been the occasion of great disputes and disorders, having been sometimes publicly condemned and forbidden, and again declared lawful and al- lowed . At present the use of coffee is generally to- lerated, if not granted, as is that of tobacco, though the more religious make a scruple of taking the lat- ter, not only because it inebriates, but also out of re- spect to a traditional saying of their prophet (which, if it could be made out to be his, would prove him a prophet indeed), That in the latter days there should be men xcho should bear the name o/" Moslems, but should not be really such; and that they should smoke a certain weed, Xi^hich should be called to- bacco : however, the eastern nations are generally so addicted to both, that they say, a dish of coffee and a pipe of tobacco are a complete entertainment ; and the Persians have a proverb, that coffee without tobacco is meat without salt\ \ thardin, ubi sup. p. 344. -^ ALd'alkader Mohatr.nicd al An^ari has ^^T.^,';, ^,tf •■*'-'=^e concerning coffee, wherein he argues for its lawfulness. V. D Hei-bcl. Art. Cahvah. 3 V. Le Trait6 Historique de rOrigine et du Progres du Cafe a la Fin du Voy. de 1' Arabic Hcur. de la Roque. "i Keland, Dissert. Miscell. T. 2, p. 280. V. Cliardin, Voy. de Perse, T. 2, j). 14, and Gfi. 170 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 5. Opium and beiig (which hitter is the leaves of hemp ill pills or conserve) are also by the rigid Mo- hammedans esteemed unlawful, though not mentioned in the Koran, because they intoxicate and disturl) the understanding as wine does, and in a more extra- ordinary manner : yet these drugs are now commonly taken in the east ; but they ^vho are addicted to them are generally looked upon as debauchees '. Several stories have been told as the occasion of Mohammed's prohibiting the drinking of wine : but the true reasons are given in the Koran, viz. because the ill qualities of that liquor surpass its good ones, the common effects thereof being quarrels and dis- turbances in company, and neglect, or at least inde- cencies, in the performance of religious duties \ For these reasons it was, that the priests were, by the Levitical law, forbidden to drink wine or strong- drink when they entered the tabernacle \ and that the Nazarites ' and Rechabites ' , and many pious jiersons among the Jews and jnimitive Christians, wholly abstained therefrom ; nay, some of the latter w^eiit so far as to condemn the use of wine as sin- ful '. But Mohammed is said to have had a nearer examj)le than any of these, in the more devout per- sons of his own tribe \ Gaming is prohibited by the Koriiii in the same passages, and for the same reasons, as wine. The w^ord id AIcha)\ w'hich is there used, signifies a particular maimer of casting lots by arrows, much practised by the })agaii Arabs, and performed in the following manner. A young camel being bought and killed, and divided into ten, or twenty- ' v. Chardin, ibid. p. (>«, &c. and D'HcrbeL p. 200. '^ V. Prid. Life of 3Iah. p. . and ch:ip. 4. p. '^'^. See Prov. xxiii. 29, &.c ^ Lcvit. x. 9. '■ Numb. vi. 2. ^ Jcmrn. XXXV. ."i, &C. ' This was the heresy of those called Encratitje, and Aquarij. Khwaf, a ."\Iaj^ian heretic, also declared wine uiilaw^ful; bill fhis was after .^loliannued's time. Hyde, dc Kcl. Vet. Ptrs. p. ."JuO. » V. Keland. de Kel. Moh. p. 27 1 . ^ t'hap. 2. p. 'Ml chip. .">. Sect. 5.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 171 eight parts, the persons who cast lots for them, to the number of seven, met for that purpose ; and eleven arrows were provided, without heads of feathers, seven of which were marked, the first with one notch, the second with two, and so on, and the other four had no mark at all ' ; these arrows were put promiscuously into a bag, and then drawn by an indifferent person, who had another near him to receive them, and to see he acted fairly; those to whom the marked arrows fell won shares in proportion to their lot, and those to whom the blanks fell were entitled to no part of the camel at all, but were obliged to pay the full price of it. The winners, however, tasted not of the flesh, any more than the losers, but the whole was distributed among the poor ; and this they did out of pride and ostenta- tion, it being reckoned a shame for a man to stand out, and not venture his money on such an occasion'. This custom, therefore, though it was of some use to the poor, and diversion to the rich, was forbidden by Mohammed', as the source of greater inconveniences, by occasioning quarrels and heart-burnings, which arose from the winners insulting of those v/ho lost. Under the name of lots the commentators agree that all other games whatsoever, which are subject to hazard or chance, are comprehended and forbidden ; as dice, cards, tables, &c. And they are reckoned so ill in themselves, that the testimony of him who plays at them is, by the more rigid jiulged, to be of no validity in a court of justice. Ciiess is almost the only game which the Mohammedan doctors allow to be lawful (though it has been a doubt with some '), because it depends wholly on skill and ma- nasrement, and not at ail on chance : but then it is ' Some writers, as al Zamakh. and al Shirazi, mention but three blark ar- rows. "^ Auctores Nodhm al dorr, aild Nothr al dorr, al Zar.iakh. al Firauzabadi, al Shirazi in Orat. al Hariri, al Beidawi, &c. V. i'oc. Spec, p. 324, &c. 3 Koian, than. 5. p. 177- ' V'. IlytU, de Liidis Oriental, in Proles;, ad Siiahiliidiuni. 17'>i Tin: I'ltKLIMlNAUY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 5. allowed under certain restrictions, viz. that it be no liinderance to the regular performance ot" their de- votions, and that no money or other thing- be played for or betted ; which last the Turks and Sonnites religiously observe, but the Persians and Mogols do not \ But what Mohannned is supposed chiefly to have disliked in the game of chess, was the carved pieces, or men, with which the Pagan Arabs played, being little figures of men, elepliants, horses, and dromedaries - ; and these are thought, by some com- mentators, to be truly meant by the images prohi- bited in one of the passages of the Koran ' quoted above. That the Ara!)s in Mohannned's time ac- tually used such images for chessmen appears from what is related, in the Sonna, of Ali, who passing accidentally by some who were playing at chess, asked, IVhat images they were which they xvere so intent upon' ? for they were perfectly new to liim, that game having been but very lately introduced into Arabia, and not long before into Persia, w hither it was first brought from India in the reign of Khosrii Nushirwan^ Hence the Mohammedan doctors infer that the game was disapi)roved only for tlie sake of the images : wherefore the Sonnites always play with plain pieces of wood or ivory ; but the Per- sians and Indians, who are not so scrupulous, con- tinue to make use of the carved ones '. The iMohammedans comply with the prohibition of gaming much better than they do with that of wdne ; for though the common people, among the Turks more frequently, and the Persians more rarely, are addicted to play, yet the better sort are seldom guilty of it '. Gaming, at least to excess, has been forbidden in ' v. Eunil. ibUI. - V. Eundoni, ibid, and in Hi>t. Slialjiludij, p. i;{5, &c. 3 Chap. .5. 4 Sokeiker ul Dimi.shki, and ..Vuctor Hbri al IMobtatraf, apud Hyde, iibi sup. ji. ?!. .■> Khondcmir, apu«l fund. il). p. 41. •' V. Hyde, iibi sup. p. 9. 7 V. cundcni, in Piolc.^. and ( hnrdin, Vny. dc I'tr^jc, T. '2,. p. Ki. Sect. 5.] THE PREI-IMINARY DISCOURSE. 173 all well-ordered states. Gaming-houses were reck- oned scandalous places among the Greeks, and a gamester is declared by Aristotle ^ to be no better than a tJiief: the Roman senate made very severe laws against playing at games of hazard % except only during the SahiniaUa ; though the people played often at other times, notwithstanding the prohi- bition : the civil law forbade all pernicious games ' ; and though the laity were, in some cases, permitted to play for money, provided they kept within rea- sonable bounds, yet the clergy were forbidden to play at tables (which is a game of hazard), or even to look on while others played \ Accvirsius, indeed, is of opinion they may play at chess, notwithstand- ing that law, because it is a game not subject to chance ', and being but newly invented in the time of Justinian, was not then known in the western parts. However the monks for some time were not allowed even chess ". As to the Jews, Mohammed's chief guides, they also highly disapprove gaming: gamesters being severely censured in the Talmud, and their testi- mony declared invalid ^ Another practice of the idolatrous Arabs, forbidden also in one of the above-mentioned passages ^ was that of divining by arnncs. The arrows used by them for this purpose were like those with which they cast losts, being without heads or feathers, and were kept in the temple of some idol, in whose presence they were consulted. Seven such arrows were kept at the temple of Mecca " ; but generally in divination they made use of three only, on one of which was ' Lib. 4. ad Niconi. -^ V. Horat. 1. 3. Carm. Od. 24. 3 De Aleatoiibus. Novell. Just. 123, &c. V. Hyde, ubi sup. in Hist. Alea, p. 119. 4 Authent. interdicimus, c. de episcopis. 5 In Com. ad Legem Prred. " Du Fresne, in Gloss. 7 Bava Mesia, 84. I. Rosh hashana, and Sanhedr. '24. 2. v. etiam Maimon. in Tract. Gezila. Among the modern civilians, Mascardus thought common gamesters were not to be admitted as witnesses, being infamous persons. V. Hyde, ubi s-up. in Proleg. et in Hist. Aleje, ^IIL ** Kor. chap. 5. ^ ggc before, p. 27. IT^ THE PRELIMINARY DISCOUUSE. [Sect. 5. written, My Lordhatli commanded me ; on another, Mjij lAxrd lialh forbidden -ivc ; and the third was blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on it as an approbation of the enterprise in question ; if the second, they made a contrary conclusion ; but if the third happened to be drawn, they mixed them and drew over again, till a decisive answer was given by one of the others. These divining arrows were ge- nerally consulted before any thing of moment was undertaken ; as v»^hen a man ^vas about to marry, or about to go a journey, or the like '. This super- stitious practice of divining by arrows was used by the ancient Greeks', and other nations ; and is par- ticularly mentioned in scripture \ where it is said, that " the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divina- tion ; he made his arrows bright," (or, according to the version of the vulgate, which seems preferable in this place, lie mixed together, or shook the arruic.s), he considted ivith images, &c. : the commentary of St. Jerome on which passage wonderfully agrees with what we are told of the aforesaid custom of the old Arabs : " He shall stand," says he, " in the high- way, and consult the oracle after the manner of his nation, that he may cast arrows into a quiver, and mix them together, being written upon or marked with tlie names of each people, that he may see whose arrow will come forth, and which city he ought first to attack *." A distinction of meats was so generally used by the eastern nations, that it is no wonder that Mo- hammed made some regulations in that matter. The Koran, therefore, prohibits the eating of blood, and swine's flesh, and whatever dies of itself, or is slain in the name or in honour of any idol, or is > Ebn al Athir, al Zaniakh, and al Beid. in Kor. c. .■;. Al Mostatraf, &c. v. Poc. Spec. p. ;}27, kc. and D'llerbcl. Bibl. Orient. Art. Acdali. » V, Pot- ter, Antiq. of Greece, Vol. 1. p. 334. 3 E/ek. xxi. '.'1. i V. Poc. Spec. p. yi'J, \c. Sect. 5.] THE PHELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. 175 strangled, or killed by a blow, or a fall, or by any other beast ^ In which particulars Mohammed seems chiefly to have imitated the Jews, b}^ whose law, as is well known, all those things are forbidden ; but he allowed some things to be eaten which Moses did not ", as camel's flesh ^ in particular. In cases of necessity, however, where a man may be in dan- ger of starving, he is allowed by the Mohammedan law to eat any of the said prohibited kinds of food - ; and the Jewish doctors grant the same liberty in the like case \ Though the aversion to blood and what dies of itself may seem natural, yet some of the Pagan Arabs used to eat both : of their eating of the latter some instances will be given hereafter ; and as to the former, it is said they used to pour blood, which they sometimes drew from a live camel, into a gut, and then broiled it on the fire, or boiled it, and ate it '^ : this food they called moswadd, from aszcad, which signifies black j the same nearly resembling our black-puddini^-s in name as well as composition'. The eating of meat offered to idols I take to be com- monly practised by all idolaters, being looked on as a sort of communion in their worship, and for that reason esteemed by Christians, if not absolutely un- lawful, yet as what may be the occasion of great scandal "" : but the Arabs w^ere particularly super- stitious in this matter, killing what they ate on stones erected on purpose round the Caaba, or near their own houses, and calling, at the same time, on the name of some idol • . Swine's flesh, indeed, the old Arabs seem not to have eaten ; and their pro- phet, in prohibiting the same, appears to have only confirmed the comm.on aversion of the nation. • Chap. 2, p. 28. chap. 5. p. II7. chap. 6. and chap. 16. ^ Lev. xi. 4. 3 See Kor. chap. 3. pp. CO, 67, and chap. 6. 4 Kor. chap. 5. p. 117- and in the other passages last quoted. 5 V. IMaivnon. in Halachoth Melachim. chap. ?.. $ 1, &c. ^ Nothr. al dorr, al Firauz. al Zamakh. and al Beid. 7 Poc. Spec. p. 320. * Compare Acts xv. 29, witli 1 Cor. viii. 40. &f. '' See the fifth chap, of the Kor. p. 1 lf». and the note.<; there. 176 THE riiEi-nriNAiiY Discf)rusE. [Sect. 5. Foreign writers tell us that the Arabs wliolly ab- stained from swine's flesh \ thinking it unlawfnl to feed thereon ', and that very few, if any, of those animals are found in their country, because it pro- duces not proper food for them ^ ; which has made one writer imagine that if a hog were carried thither, it would immediately die '. In the i)rohil)ition of usury ' I presume Moham- med also followed the Jews, \vho are strictly for- bidden by their law to exercise it among one an- other, though they are so infamously guilty of it in their dealing with those of a different religion : but I do not find the prophet of the Arabs has made any distinction in this matter. Several superstitious customs relating to cattle, which seem to have been peculiar to the Pagan Arabs, were also abolished by Mohammed. The Koran " mentions four names by them given to cer- tain camels or sheep, which for some particular reasons were left at free liberty, and were not made use of as other cattle of the same kind. These names are Bahira, Saiba, "Wasila, and Hami : of each whereof in their order. As to the first it is said that when a she-camel, or a sheep, had borne young ten times, they used to slit her ear, and turn her loose to feed at full liberty ; and when she died, her flesh was eaten by the men only, the women being forbidden to eat thereof: and such a camel or sheep, from the slif/i/ti^- of her ear, they called Baiiira. Or the Bahira was a she- camel, which was turned loose to feed, and whose fifth young one, if it proved a male, was killed and eaten by men and women promiscuously ; but if it proved a female, had its car slit, and was dismissed to free pasture, none being permitted to make use of ' Solin. ik' Arab. cap. 'X\. ' Ilieronyiv. in Jovin. 1. 2. c. 6. 3 Id. ib. ^ Solinus, ubi supra. s Kor. chap. 2. p. •!?{, -19. « Chap. 5. Sect. ;>.] THE i'KEMMINAliV DISCOURSE. I77 its flesh or milk, or to ride on it ; though the women were allowed to eat the flesh of it, when it died : or it was the female young of the Saiba, which w^as used in the same manner as its dam ; or else an ewe, which had yeaned five times \ These, however, are not all the opinions cqncerning the Bahira : for some suppose that name was given to a she-camel, which after having brought forth young five times (if the last w^as a male), had her ear slit, as a mark thereof, and was let go loose to feed, none driving her from pasture or water, nor using her for carriage ■ ; and others tell us, that when a camel had newly brought forth, they used to slit the ear of her young olie, saying, " O God, if it live, it shall be for our use,' but if it die, it shall be deemed rightly slain ;" and when it died, they ate it '. Saiba signifies a she-camel /unied hose to go where she will. And this was done on various ac- counts : as when she had brought forth females ten times together ; or in satisfaction of a vow ; or when a man had recovered from sickness, or returned safe from a journey, or his camel had escaped some signal danger either in battle or otherwise. A camel so turned loose was declared to be Saiba, and, as a mark of it, one of the vertebrco or bones was taken out of her back, after which none might drive her from pasture or water, or ride on her \ Some say that the Saiba, when she had ten times together brought forth females, was suffered to go at liberty, none being allowed to ride on her, and that her milk was not to be drank by any but her young one, or a guest, till she died ; and then her flesh was eaten by men as well as women, and her last female young one had her ear slit, and was called Bahira, and turned loose as her dam had been \ This appellation, however, was not so strictly proper to female camels, but that it was given to ' Al Firaiizabadi. 2 a1 Zamakh. al Bcidawi, al Aiostatiaf. 3 Ebii al Athii . 4 Al Firauzab. al Zamakh. 5 Al Jawhari. Ebn al Athir. VOL. I. ;[^ 178 THE PRELIMINArvY DISCOURSE. [Sect. .5. the male wlien his young one liad begotten another young one ' : nay a servant set at liberty and dis- missed by liis master was also called Saiba - ; and some are of opinion that the word denotes any animal which the Arabs used to turn loose in ho- nour of their idols, allowing none to make use of them thereafter, except women only \ Wasila is, by one author ', explained to signify a she-camel which had brought forth ten times, or an ewe which had yeaned seven times, and every time twins ; and if the seventh time she brought forth a male and a female, they said, Wosilat akhaha, i. e. A.S7/6' is joined, or icas Jn-ou^litjhrlli xdth her hrolJier, after which none might drink the dam's milk, except men only ; and she was used as the Saiba. Or AVa- sila was particularly meant of sheep ; as when an ewe brought forth a female, they took it to them- selves, but when she brought forth a male, they con- secrated it to their gods, but if both a male and a female, they said, She is Joined to her hro/he?; and did not sacrifice that male to their gods : or Wasila was an ewe which brought forth first a male, and then a female, on whose account, or because shefi-l- lowed her brother, the male was not killed ; but if she brought forth a male only, they said, Lid this he an offering to our gods '. Another " writes, that if an ewe brought forth twins seven times together, and the eighth time a male, they sacrificed that male to their gods ; but if the eighth time she brought both a male and a female, they used to say. She is jomed to her brother, and for the female's sake they spared the male, and permitted not the dam's milk to be drank by women. A third writer tells us, that Wasila was an ewe, which having yeaned seven times, if that which she brought forth the seventh time was a male, they sacrificed it, but if a female, it was suffered to go loose, and was made use of by ' Al Firauz. - Idem, al .Fawhari, &c. 3 Notlir al dorr, and Nodhni al dorr. < Al Firauz. 5 Idem, al Zamakh. " Al Jawhari. Sect. 5.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 179 women only ; and if the seventh time she brought forth both a male and a female, they held them both to be sacred, so that men only were allowed to make any use of them^ or to drink the milk of the female : and a fourth ' describes it to be an ewe which brought forth ten females at five births one after another, i. e. every time twins, and whatever she brought forth afterwards was allowed to men, and not to women, &c. Hami was a male camel used for a stallion, which, if the females had conceived ten times by him, was 2dieYW2iYAs freed from labour, and let go loose, none driving him from pasture or from water ; nor was any allowed to receive the least benefit from him, not even to shear his hair -. These things were observed by the old Arabs in honour of their false gods ', and as part of the wor- ship which they paid them, and were ascribed to the divine institution ; but are all condemned in the Koran, and declared to be impious superstitions \ The law of Mohammed also put a stop to the in- human custom, which had been long practised by the pagan Arabs, of burying their daughters alive, lest they should be reduced to poverty by providing for them, or else to avoid the displeasure and dis- grace which would follow, if they should happen to be made captives, or to become scandalous by their behaviour '; the birth of a daughter being, for these reasons, reckoned a great misfortune ', and the death of one as great a happiness '. The manner of their doing this is differently related : some say that when an Arab had a daughter born, if he intended to bring her up, he sent her, clothed in a garment of wool or hair, to keep camels or sheep in the desert ; but if he designed to put her to death, he let her live till ' Al Motarrezi. J Al Firauz. al Jawhari. 3 Jallal. in Kor. 4 Kor. chap. 5. p. 137, and chap. 6. V. Poc. Specira. p. 330—334. s Al Beidawi, al Zamakh. al :Mostatraf. 6 See Koran, chap. 16. 7 Al Meidani. N 2 180 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 5. she became six years old, and then said to her mo- ther, " Perfume her, and adorn her, that I may carry her to her mothers ;" which hein<^ done, the father led her to a well or ])it dug for that purpose, and having bid her to look down into it, pushed her in headlong, as he stood behind her, and then filling up the pit, levelled it \vith the rest of the ground : but others say, that when a ^\•oman was ready to fall in labour, they dug a pit, on the brink m hereof she was to be delivered, and if the child happened to be a daughter, they threw it into the pit, but if a son, they saved it alive '. This custom, though not ob- served by all the Arabs in general, was yet very common among several of their tribes, and parti- cularly those of Koreish and Kendah ; the former using to bury their daughters alive in mount Aim Dalama, near Mecca ". In the time of ignorance, while they used this method to get rid of their daughters, Sasaa, grandfather to the celebrated poet al Farazdak, frequently redeemed female children from death, giving for every one two she-camels big Avith young, and a he-camel ; and hereto al Farazdak alluded when, vaunting himself before one of the Klialifs of the family of Omeyya, he said, " I am the son of the giver of life to the dead ;" for which expression being censured, he excused himself by alleging the following words of the Koran', " He who saveth a soul alive shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind '." The Arabs, in thus mur- dering of their children, were far from being sin- gular ; the practice of exposing infants and putting them to death being so common among the ancients, that it is remarked as a thing very extraordinary in the Egyptians, that they brought up all their chil- dren ■ ; and by the laws of Lycurgus ' no child \\as allowed to be brought up, without the approbation ' Al Zaniakh. -^ Al Mostatraf. 3 Chap. T). p. Vl'X * Al Mos- latruf. \. l.bn Khalckaii, in \'iia al Farazdak, and I'oc Spec. )>. '.VM. s Stralio, 1. 17. V. l>iodor. Sic. 1. 1. c. fiO. •• V. Philarch. in Lycurgo. Sect. 5.] THE niELIMlNAllY DISCOURSE. 181 of public officers. At this day, it is said, in China, the poorer sort of people frequently put their chil- dren, the females especially, to death, with impunity i. This wicked practice is condemned by the Koran m several passages - ; one of which, as some com- mentators ' judge, may also condemn another custom of the Arabians, altogether as wicked, and as com- mon among other nations of old, viz. the sacrificing of then- children to their idols ; as was frequently done, m particular, in satisfaction of a vow they used to make, that if they had a certain number of sons born, they would offer one of them in sacrifice. Several other superstitious customs were likewise abrogated by Mohammed ; but the same being of less moment, and not particularly mentioned in the Koran, or having been occasionally taken notice of elsewhere, I shall say nothing of them in this place. • 7; P"''™dorf. de Jure Nat. et Gent. 1. 6. c. 7. S C. The Grecians also treated dausklcrs especially in this n.anner ; whence thit saying of PoSSus ''• A man though poor will not expose his son, But if lie 's rich, will scarce preserve his daughter." See Potter's Antiq. of Greece, Vol. 2. p. 33.3. i fhAn a n\. ir and chap. I7. , See also chap. 81. ^ 3 ^1 Za.nakh. al Bad!'" ^"^' ''' 182 THE PllELIMINAKV DISCOL'KSE. [Sect. G. SECTION VI. Of the Institutions of the Koran in Civil Affairs. The Mohammedan civil law is founded on the precepts and determinations of the Koran, as the civil laws of the Jews were on those of the Penta- teuch ; yet being variously interpreted, according to the different decisions of their civilians, and espe- cially of their four great doctors, Abu Hanifa, Ma- lec, al Shafei, and Ebn Hanbal ', to treat thereof fully and distinctly, in the manner the curiosity and usefulness of the subject deserves, would require a large volume : wherefore the most that can be ex- pected here is a summary view of the principal in- stitutions, without minutely entering into a detail of particulars. We shall begin with those relating to marriage and divorce. That 2X)lijgainy, for the moral lawfulness of which the Mohammedan doctors advance se\'eral argu- ments -, is allowed by the Koran, every one knows ; though few are acquainted with the limitations with which it is allowed. Several learned men have fallen into the vulgar mistake, that Mohannned granted to his followers an unbounded plurality ; some pretending that a man may have as many wives ', and others as many concubines % as he can maintain : whereas, according to the express words ' See ^ it. * Sec before, ^11. p. ifJ. 3 Nic. Cusanus, in Cribrat. Alcor. 1. 2. cap. 1!). Olearius, in Kincrar. P. Orcjj;. Tholosanus, in SyiU. Juris, 1. 9- c. 2. 5 22. Septenicastrensis (de iSIorib. Tun-, p. 24.) says the Mohammedans may liave twelve lawful wives, and r.o more. Ric.iut falsely asserts the restraint of the number of thiir wives to be no precept of their reli- gion, but a ruL- biii)eriiuliiCv.'il o,; ;i poliiie consideratiiin. Pros. State of the Ot- toman Empire, book '.\. k\\\\\i. 21. 1 IVf anacc. in Pifulr. ad Uefut. Alcor. S^ct. 6.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 183 of the Koran \ no iiiau can have more than four, whether wives or concubines ' ; and if a man appre- hend any inconvenience from even that number of ingenuous wives, it is added, as an advice (which is generally followed by the middling and inferior people '), that he marry one only, or if lie cannot be contented with one, that he take up with his she- slaves, not exceeding, however, the limited number*; and this is certainly the utmost Mohammed allowed his followers : nor can we urge, as an argument against so plain a precept, the corrupt manners of his followers, many of whom, especially men of quality and fortune, indulge themselves in criminal excesses ' ; nor yet the example of the prophet him- self, who had peculiar privileges in this and other points, as will be observed hereafter. In making the above-mentioned limitation, Mohammed was di- rected by the decision of the Jewish doctors, who, by way of counsel, limit the number of wives to four", though their law confines them not to any certain number '. Divorce is also well known to be allowed by the Mohammedan law, as it was by the Mosaic, with this difference only, that according to the latter a man could not take again a woman whom he had divorced, and who had been married or betrothed to another ' ; whereas Mohammed, to prevent his followers from divorcing their wives on every light part 4. p. 52, & Tl. Priclcaux, Life of Mah. p. 114. Chartliu, Voy. de Perse, 'i\ 1, p. Ida. Dii Ryer, Sommaire de la Rel. des Turcs, mis a la tetc de sa version de TAlcor. Ricaut, ubi supra. Pufendorf, de Jure Nat. et Gent. 1. 0. c. 1.M8- ' Cliap. 4. p. 'id. - v. Gagnier, in notis ad Abiilfeda; Vit. Moh. p. 150. RelaiHl, de Rel. Moh. p. 243, &c. and Selden. Ux. Hebr. 1. 1. cap. 9. 3 V. Reland. ubi sup. p. 244. • Kor. chap. 4. p. 85. ^ Sir J. Maundeville (who, exceptins; a fcv/ silly stories he tells from hear-say, deserves more credit than some travellers of better reputation), speaking of the Koran, observes, among several other truths, that INIahomet therein commanded a man should have two wives, or three, or four ; though the Mahometans then took nine wives, and lemans as many as tliey might sustain. Maundev. Travels, ]i. Hi4. « JMaimon. in Halachoth Ishoth, c. 14. ^ Idem, ib. V. Selden. Uxor. Hebr. 1. 1. c. 0. » Deut. xxiv. 3, 4. Jerem. iii. 1. V. Sel- den, ubi sup. 1. I.e. 11. 184 THE PIIELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 6. occasion, or out of an inconstant humour, ordained that if a man divorced his wife the third time (for he mis;ht divorce her twice without being obliged to j)art with lier, if he repented of wliat he had done), it shoukl not be lawful for him to take lier again, until she had been first married and bedded by an- other, and divorced by such second husband '. And this precaution has had so good an effect, that the Mohammedans are seldom known to proceed to the extremity of divorce, notwithstanding the liberty given them ; it being reckoned a great disgrace so to do : and there are but few, besides those who have little or no sense of honour, that will take a wife again, on the condition enjoined ". It must be observed that though a man is allowed by the ]\Io- hammedan, as by the Jewish law % to repudiate his wife even on the slightest disgust, yet the women are not allowed to separate themselves from their husbands, unless it be for ill usage, want of ])roper maintenance, neglect of conjugal duty, impotency, or some cause of equal import ; but then she gene- rally loses her dowry -, which she does not, if di- vorced by her husband, unless she has been guilty of impudicity, or notorious disobedience '. When a woman is divorced, she is obliged, by the direction of the Koran, to wait till she hath had her courses thrice, or, if there be a doubt whether she be subject to them or not, by reason of her age, three months, before she marry another ; after which time expired, in case she be found not with child, she is at full liberty to dispose of herself as she j)leases : but if she ])rove witli child, she must wait till she l)e delivered : and during her whole term of waiting, she may continue in the husband's house, ' Koian, clisip. 2. p. 39. » V. S' klen. uLi sup. 1. .'?. rap. 21. and Hicnut's Slate of the Ottoman Empire, b. 2. chap. 21. 3 Deut. xxiv. 1. Lc« IVImlcna, Hii.t. de gli Uiti Iltlr. part 1. c. (>. V. Seidell, ubisiip. * V. Bus- 1)0(1. ''!'• •'• P- "'^- Smitli, do Morib. .ic Iiutit. 'i'lircar. Kp. 2. p. 52. and Chardin, \oy. de I'crsc, T. 1. p. l(i!>. s Koruii, chap. 1. p. JJJi, liO. Sect. G.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 185 and is to be maintained at his expense ; it being forbidden to turn a woman out before the expiration of the term, unless she be guilty of dishonesty'. Where a man divorces a woman before consumma- tion, she is not obliged to wait any particular time^; nor is he obliged to give her more than one half of her dower . If the divorced woman have a young child, she is to suckle it till it be two years old ; the father, in the mean time, maintaining her in all re- spects : a widow is also obliged to do the same, and to wait four months and ten days before she marry again ^ These rules are also copied from those of the Jews, according to whom a divorced woman, or a widow, cannot marry another man till ninety days be past, after the divorce or death of the husband": and she who gives suck is to be maintained for two years, to be computed from the birth of the child ; within which time she must not marry, unless the child die, or her milk be d]'ied up". Whoredom, in single Avomen as well as married, was, in the beginning of Mohammedism, very se- verely ijunished ; such being ordered to be shut up in i)rison till they died : but afterwards it was or- dained by the Sonna, that an adulteress should be stoned', and an unmarried woman guilty of fornica- tion scourged with an hundred stripes, and banished for a year". A she-slave, if convicted of adultery, is to suffer but half the punishment of a free woman ^, viz. fifty stripes, and banishment for six months ; but is not to be put to death. To convict a woman of adultery, so as to make it capital, four witnesses are ' Koran, chap. 2. p. 38, and 30, and chap. 65. ^ jb, chap. 33. 3 lb. chap. 2. p. 3!7. •» lb. chap. 2. p. 38. and chap. 05. s Mishna, tit. Yabinioth, c. 4. Gemar. Babyl. ad euud. tit. Maimon. in Halach. Girushin, Sliylhan Aruch, part 3. ^ Mishna, and Geniara, and Maimon. ubi supra, Gem. Babyl. ad tit. Cetuboth, c. 5. and Jos. Karo, in Shylhan Aruch, c. 50, §2. v. Seldeni Ux. Hebr. 1, 2. c. 11, andl. 3. c. lOinlin. 7 And the adulterer also, according to a passage once extant in tlie Koran, and still in force as some suppose. Sec the notes to Kor. c. 3. p. 51. and the Prcl. Disc. p. t>2, * Kor. chap. 4. p. 88. See the notes there. » Ibid. p. 'JO. 186 THE PRELIMINAKV DISCUUllSE. [Scrt. (). expressly required ', and those, as the commentators say, ought to be men : and if a man falsely accuse a woman of reputation of whoredom of any kind, and is not able to support the charge by that number of witnesses, he is to receive fourscore stripes, and his testimonj'' is to be held invalid for the future-. For- nication, in either sex, is by the sentence of the Koran to be punished with an hundred stripes \ If a man accuse his wife of infidelity, and is not able to prove it by sufficient evidence, and will swear four times that it is true, and the fifth time imprecate God's vengeance on him if it be false, she is to be looked on as convicted, unless she will take the like oaths, and make the like imprecation, in testimony of her innocency ; which if she do, she is free from punishment, though the marriage ought to be dis- solved \ In most of the last-mentioned particulars, the de- cisions of the Koran also agree with those of the Jews. By the law of Moses, adultery, whether in a married woman or a virgin betrothed, was punished with death ; and the man who debauched them was to suffer the same punishment"-. The penalty of simple fornication was scourging, the general punish- ment in cases where none is particularly appointed : and a betrothed bond-maid, if convicted of adultery, underwent the same punishment, being exempted from death, because she was notfrce^. By the same law, no person was to be put to death on the oath • Kor. ch. 4. p. Ko. See notes there. '^ Ivor. chap. 24. 3 Ibid. Tliis law relates not to married people, as Selden suposes ; Ux. Hcb. 1. 3. c. 12. 4 Ibid. Sec the notes there. 5 Lev. xx. 10. Dent. xxii. 22. Tlic kind of death to be infiiclcd on adulterers in connnon cases beinj: not exprcssai, the Tidnnidists generally Mippose it to be slninglhif: ; vhieh they tl'.ink is de- signed wherever the phrase s/iall be put io deaths or shall die the death, is used, as they iniaj^ine tton'uig is by the expression hh blood shall Ir upon him : and hence it has been concluded by some, tliat the woman taken in adultery, Uicn- fioned in the gosjicl (.John viii.) was a betrothed iiiaiden, because such a one and her accomplice were phiinly ordered to be stoned. (Deut. xxii. 23, 21.) I'ut the ancients .seem to have been of a different opinion, and to have understood stoning to be the punishment of adulterers in general. V. Selden. Ux. Hcbr. 1. '.i. c. 11, and 12. ' Lcvit. xix. 20. Sect. 6.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 187 of one witness i: and a man who slandered his wife was also to be chastised, that is scourged, and fined one hundred shekels of silver^ The method of try- ing a woman suspected of adultery, where evidence was wanting, by forcing her to drink the bitter water of jealousy ^ though disused by the Jews long before the time of Mohammed \ yet, by reason of the oath of cursing with which the woman was charged, and to which she was obliged to say Ame>!, bears great resemblance to the expedient devised by that prophet on the like occasion. The institutions of Mohammed relating to the pollution of women during their courses % the taking of slaves to wifeS and the prohibiting of marriage within certain degrees', have likewise no small af- finity with the institutions of Moses' ; and the parallel might be carried farther in several other particulars. As to the prohibited degrees, it may be observed, that the pagan Arabs abstained from marrying their mothers, daughters, and aunts both on the father's side and on the mother's, and held it a most scandal- ous thing to marry two sisters, or for a man to take his father's wife'; which last was notwithstanding too frequently practised '', and is expressly forbidden in the Koran ^K Before I leave the subject of marriages, it may be proper to take notice of some peculiar privileges in relation thereto, which were granted by God to Mohammed, as he gave out, exclusive of all other Moslems. One of them was, that he might lawfully marry as many wives and have as many concubines as he pleased, without being confined to any parti- cular number^-; and this he pretended to have been > Deut.xix. 15. xvii. G, and Numb. xxxv. 30. - Deut. xxii. 13—11). 3 Numb. v. 1] , &c. 4 V. Selden, ubi supr. 1. 3. c. 15. and Leon. Modena, de' Riti Hebraici, parte 4. c. G. s Kor. chap. 2. p. 37- '^ lb- chap. 4. p. «5, and f Mah. p. 118. * Sec chap. \. p. o4, }ifi, and liJi, and the notes tlurc. V. ctiam Poc. Spec. p. 337- Sect. 6.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 189 near relations, should leave behind them, in a certain proportion \ The general rule to be observed in the distri- bution of the deceased's estate is, that a male shall have twice as much as a female - ; but to this rule there are some few exceptions ; a man's parents, for example, and also his brothers and sisters, where they are entitled not to the v/hole, but a small part of tile inheritance, being to have equal shares with one another in the distribution thereof, -v^ithout making any difference on account of sex '\ The particular proportions, in several cases, distinctly and sufficiently declare the intention of Mohammed ; whose decisions expressed in the Koran * seem to be pretty equitable, preferring a man's children first, and then his nearest relations. If a man dispose of any part of his estate by will, two witnesses, at the least, are required to render the same valid ; and such witnesses ought to be of his own tribe, and of the Mohammedan religion, if such can be had \ Though there be no express law to the contrary, yet the Mohammedan doctors reckon it very wrong for a man to give away any part of his substance from his family, unless it be in lega- cies for pious uses ; and even in that case a man ought not to give all he has in charity, but only a reasonable part in proportion to his substance. On the other hand, though a man make no will, and bequeath nothing for charitable uses, yet the heirs are directed, on the distribution of the estate, if the value will permit, to bestow something on the poor, especially such as are of kin to the deceased, and to the orphans '. The first law, however, laid down by Mohammed touching inheritances was not very equitable ; for he declared that those who had fled with him from ' Kor. chap. 4. ubi supra. "^ Ibid. p. 86, and 115. V. Chardin, Voy. de Perse, T. 2. p. 293. 3 Kor. Ibid. p. 86, 8?. 4 Ibid, and p. 115. 5 Kor. chap. 5. p. 138. •> Kor. chap. 4. p. 86. 190 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. (). Mecca, and those who had received and assisted him at Medina, should be deemed the nearest of kin, and consequently heirs to one anotlier, preferably to and in exclusion of their relations by blood ; nay, though a man were a true believer, yet if he had not fled his country for the sake of religion and joined the pro- phet, he was to be looked on as a stranger ' : but this law continued not long in force, being quickly abrogated -. It must be observed that among the Moham- medans the children of their concubines or slaves are esteemed as equally legitimate with those of their legal and ingenuous wives ; none being accounted bastards, except such only as are born of common ^vomen, and whose fathers are unknown. As to private contracts between man and man, the conscientious performance of them is frequently recommended in the Koran '. For the preventing of disputes, all contracts are directed to be made be- fore witnesses ' ; and in case such contracts are not immediately executed, the same ought to be reduced into writing in the presence of two witnesses "■ at least, who ought to be Moslems and of the male sex ; but if two men cannot be conveniently had, then one man and two women may suffice : tlie same method is also directed to be taken for the security of debts to be paid at a future day ; and where a writer is not to be found, pledges are to be taken*"'. Hence, if people trust one another without writing, witnesses, or pledge, the party on whom the demand is made is always acquitted if he denies the charge on oath, and swears that he owes the plaintiff nothing, unless the contrary be proved by very convincing circumstances ''. > Chap. B. ■> Ibid, and chap. ;i:$. 3 (hap. 5. p. UG. chap. 17. chap. 2. p. 4!), &c. * Chap. 2. p. 41). s The same seems to have been required by the Jewish law, even in cises where life was not concerned. See Deut. xix. 15. JNIatth. xviii. l(i. John viii. 17- 2 Cor. xiii. 1. ^ Kor. c. 2. p. i>0. " V. Chardiii, Voy.de Perse, T. 2. p. 21)4, &c. and tiie notes to Kor. chap. .'>. p. 1;JJ>. Sect. 6.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 191 Wilful murder, thougli forbidden by the Koran under the severest penalties to be inflicted in the next life \ is yet by the same book allowed to be compounded for, on payment of a fine to the family of the deceased, and freeing a Moslem from cap- tivity : but it is in the election of the next of kin, or the revenger of blood, as he is called in the Penta- teuch, either to accept of such satisfaction, or to re- fuse it ; for he may, if he pleases, insist on having the murderer delivered into his hands, to be put to death in such manner as he shall think fit '. In this particular Mohammed has gone against the exjwess letter of the PvJosaic law, which declares that no sa- tisfaction shall be taken for the life of a murderer ^ ; and he seems, in so doing, to have had respect to the customs of the Arabs in his time, who, being of a vindictive temper, used to revenge murder in too unmerciful a manner ', whole tribes frequently en- gaging in bloody wars on such occasions, the natural consequence of their independency, and having no common judge or superior. If the Mohammedan laws seem light in case of murder, they may perhaps be deemed too rigorous in case of manslaughter, or the killing of a man un- designedly ; which must be redeemed by fine (un- less the next of kin shall think fit to remit it out of charity), and the freeing of a captive : but if a man be not able to do this, he is to fast two months to- gether, by way of penance \ The fine for a man's blood is set in the Sonna at a hundred camels''; and is to be distributed among the relations of the deceased, according to the laws of inheritances ; but it must be observed, that though the person slain be a Moslem, yet if he be of a nation or party at enmity, or not in confederacy with those to whom the slayer ' Kor. ch. 4. p. 102. ^^ Chap. 2. p. 28, 29. chap. 17. V. Char- din, ubi sup. p. 299, &c. 3 Numb. xxxv. .31. 4 This is par- ticularly forbidden in the Koran, chap. 17- s Kor. chap. 4. p. 102. ^ See the notes to chap. 37- 192 THE PRELIMINAKY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 0. belongs, he is not then bound to pay any fine at all ; the redeeming a cajitive being, in such case, declared a sufficient penalty '. I imagine that Mohammed, by these regulations, laid so heavy a punishment on involuntary manslaughter, not only to make peoj)le beware incurring the same, but also to luunour, in some degree, the revengeful temper of his country- men, which might be with difficulty, if at all, j)re- vailed on to accept a lighter satisfaction. Among the Jews, who seem to have been no less addicted to revenge than their neighbours, the manslayer who had escaped to a city of refuge was obliged to keep himself within that city, and to abide there till the death of the person who was high priest at the time the fact was committed, that his absence and time might cool the passion and mitigate the resentment of the friends of the deceased ; but if he quitted his asylum before that time, the revenger of blood, if he found him, might kill him without guilt ; nor could any satisfaction be made for the slayer to re- turn home before the prescribed time . Theft is ordered to be punished by cutting off the offiending part, the hand * ; which, at first sight, seems just enough : but the law of Justinian, for- bidding a thief to be maimed % is more reasonable : because stealing being generally the effi^ct of indi- gence, to cut off that limb would be to deprive him of the means of getting his livelihood in an honest manner'. The Sonna forbids the inflicting of this punishment, unless the thing stolen be of a certain value. I have mentioned in another place the fur- ther penalties which those incur who continue to steal, and of those who rob or assault people on the road ' . As to injuries done to men in their persons, the • Kor. chap. 4. p. 102. ^ See Numb. xxxv. I'C, 27, 2n. 3 Ibid, vcr. ;{2. 4 Koran, diap. 5. p. 124. "> Novell. i:<4. c. l.'t. ^ V. Piifcn- dorf, dc Jure Nat. ct (iciu. 1. }{. c. ."{. ^ 2(i. ' Sec the notes to chap. f>. p. 124. Sect. 6.] THE PHELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 193 law of retaliation, which was ordained by the law of Moses', is also approved by the Koran': but this law, which seems to have been allowed by Mo- hammed to his Arabians for the same reason as it was to the Jews, viz. to prevent particular revenges, to which both nations were extremely addicted \ being neither strictly just, nor practicable in many cases, is seldom put in execution, the punishment being generally turned into a mulct or fine, which is paid to the party injured \ Or rather Moham- med designed the words of the Koran relating thereto should be vuiderstood in the same manner as those of the Pentateuch most probably ought to be ; that is, not of an actual retaliation, according to the strict literal meaning, but of a retribution propor- tionable to the injury : for a criminal had not his eyes put out, nor was a man mutilated, according to the law of Moses, which, besides, condemned those who had wounded any person, where death did not ensue, to pay a fine only^; the expression eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, being only a proverbial manner of speaking, the sense whereof amounts to this. That every one shall be punished by the judges, according to the heinoiisness (f the fact '^. In injuries and crimes of an inferior nature, where no particular punishment is provided by the Koran, and where a pecuniary compensation will not do, the Mohammedans, according to the practice of the Jews in the like case ", have recourse to stripes or drubbing, the most common chastisement used in the east at this day, as well as formerly ; the cudgel, which, for its virtue and efficacy in keeping their j^eople in good ' Exod. xxi. 24, &c. Levit. xxiv. 20. Dcut. six. 21. ' Chap. 5. p. 126. 2 v. Grotiuni, de Jure BeUi et Pads, 1. 1. c. 2. (^ 3. •• V. Cliar- din, T. 2. p. 2D.9. The talio, likewise established among tiie old Romans by the laws of the twelve tables, was not to be inflicted, unless the delinquent could not agree wth the person injured. V. A. Gell. Noct. Attic. 1. 20. c. 1. and Festum, in voce tallo. s See Exod. xxi. 18, 19, and 22. 6 Bar- beyrac, in Grot, ubi supra. V. Cleric, in Exod. xxi. 24, and Deut. xix. 21. " See Deut. xxv. 2, ?>. YOL. I. O 194 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 6. order, and within the bounds of duty, they say came down from heaven, being the instrument wherewith the judge's sentence is generally executed'. Notwithstanding the Koran is by the Moham- medans in general regarded as the fundamental part of their civil law, and the decisions of the Sonna, among the Turks, and of the Imams, among those of the Persian sect, with the explications of their several doctors, are usually followed in judicial determina- tions, yet the secular tribunals do not think them- selves bound to observe the same in all cases, but frequently give judgment against those decisions, which are not always consonant to equity and rea- son ; and therefore distinction is to be made between the written civil law, as administered in the ecclesi- astical courts, and the law of natm-e or connnon law (if I may so call it) which takes place in the secular courts, and has the executive power on its side . Under the head of civil laws may be compre- hended the injunction of warring against infidels, which is repeated in several passages of the Koran •, and declared to be of high merit in the sight of God, those who are slain fighting in defence of the faith being reckoned martyrs, and promised immediate ad- mission into i)aradise '. Hence this duty is greatly magnified by the Mohammedan divines, who call the sword the keij of licaven and lai/, and persuade their people that the least drop of blood spilt /// tlicxicaij of God, as it is called, is most acceptable unto him, and that the defending the territories of the JMoslems for one night is more meritorious than a fast of two months : on the other hand, desertion, or refusing to serve in these holy wars, or to contribute towards the carrying them on, if a man has ability, is ac- ' V. Grelot, Voy. de Constant, p. 220, and Cluinlin, ubi supra, p. .'502. 2 V. C'haidin, ubi supra, p. 290, &c. 3 Chap. 22. diap. 2, p. 32. chap. 4, p. 98, V. chap. 9. and chap. 3, p. 74, &c, ^ See before, p. 06. 3 Halach. Melachim, c. 7- < Jerem. xiv. 8. s Job xiii. 14. ^ Deut. >:x. o. " Jerenv. xlviiL 10. o 2 196 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 6. apprehend no danger or misfortune, but may be as- sured tliat he will have a house built him in Israel, a})proi)riated to him and his children for ever ; as it is said, God shall certainly make my lord a sure house, because he hath fought the battles of the Lord, and his life shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord his God'." More passages of this kind might be produced from the Jewish writers ; and the Christians come not far behind them. " We are desirous of knowing," says one" writing to the Franks engaged in the holy war, " the charity of you all ; for that every one (\A'hich we speak not be- cause w^e wish it) who shall faithfully lose his life in this warfare shall be by no means denied the king- dom of heaven :" And another^ gives the following exhortation ; " Laying aside all fear and dread, en- deavour to act effectually against the enemies of the holy faith, and the adversaries of all religions : for the Almighty knoweth, if any of you die, that he dieth for the truth of the faith, and the salvation of his country, and the defence of Christians ; and therefore he shall obtain of him a celestial reward." The Jews, indeed, had a divine commission, extensive and explicit enough, to attack, subdue, and destroy the enemies of their religion ; and Mohammed pre- tended to have received one in favour of himself and his Moslems, in terms equally plain and full ; and therefore it is no wonder that they should act con- sistently with their avowed principles : but that Christians should teach and practise a doctrine so opposite to the temper and whole tenour of the gospel, seems very strange ; and yet the latter have carried matters farther, and sho\\'n a more violent spirit of intolerance, than either of the former. The laws of war according to the Mohammedans have been already so exactly set down by the learned ' 1 Sam. XXV. 28, 2!). ^ Nicolaus, in .Jure Canon, c. Omnium, 2.3. qua-st. .5. 3 Leo W. ib. qu.Tsl. if. Sect. 6.] THE PllELIMIXARY DISCOURSE. 197 Relaiid', that I need say very little of them. I shall therefore only observe some conformity between their military laws and those of the Jews. ^Vhile Mohammedism was in its infancy, the oi)posers thereof taken in battle were doomed to death, withont mercy ; but this was judged too severe to be put in practice when that religion came to be sufficiently established, and past the danger of being subverted by its enemies'. The same sentence was jH-onounced not only against the seven Canaanitish nations ', whose possessions were given to the Israel- ites, and without whose destruction, in a manner, they could not have settled themselves in the country designed them, but against the Amalekites '■ and Mi- dianites ', who had done their utmost to cut them oft' in their i)assage thither. When the Mohammedans declare war against people of a different faith, they give tliem their choice of three offers, viz, either to embrace Mohammedism, in which case they be- come not only secure in their persons, families, and fortunes, but entitled to all the privileges of other Moslems; or to submit and pay tribute', by doing v/hich they are allowed to profess their own religion, provided it be not gross idolatry, or against the moral law ; or else to decide the quarrel by the sword, in which last case, if the Moslems prevail, the women and children which are made captives become absolute slaves, and the men taken in the battle may either be slain, unless they turn Mohammedans, or otherwise disposed of at the pleasure of the prince'. Herewith agree the laws of war given to the Jews, which relate to the nations not devoted to destruc- tion^; and Joshua is said to have sent even to the inhabitants of Canaan, before he entered the land. ■ In his treatise De Jure Militari Mohammedaiior. in the third vol. of his Dis- sertationes JMiscdlanea?. -^ See Kor. chap. 47, and the notes there ; and chap. 4, p. 102. chap. .5. p. 124. 3 Deut. xx. 16 -1«. 4 lb. chap. xxv. 17—19. 5 xXunib. sxxi. I7. 6 See chap, i), and the notes there. ■ See the nolts to chap. 47. » Deut. xx. 10—15. 198 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [SeCt. 6. three schedules, in one of which was written, JjCt himjiij, icho zcill ; in the second, Lei /lim surrender, ivho will; and in the third, Let liim fight, who wilP; though none of those nations made peace with the Israelites (except only the Gibeonites, who obtained terms of security by stratagem, after they had refused those offered by Joshua), it being of the Lord to harden their hearts, that he might destroy them ut- terbf-. On the first considerable success of Mohammed in war, the dispute which happened among his fol- lowers, in relation to the dividing of the spoil, rendered it necessary for him to make some regu- lation therein : he therefore .pretended to have re- ceived the divine commission to distribute the spoil among his soldiers at his own discretion ', reserving thereout, in the first place, one fifth part ■ for the uses after mentioned ; and in consequence hereof, he took himself to be authorized on extraordinary oc- casions to distribute it as he thought fit, without observing an equality. Thus he did, for example, with the spoil of the tribe of Hawazen taken at the battle of Honein, which he bestowed by way of presents on the Meccans only, passing by those of Medina, and highly distinguishing the principal Korashites, that he might ingratiate himself with them, after he had become master of their city^ He was also allowed in the expedition against those of al Nadir to take the whole booty to himself, and to ' Talmud. Hierosol. apud ?.!ainionid. Halach. Melachim, c (]. ^ 5. R. lierhai, tx lib. Siphre. V. Selden. de Jure Nat. ct Gent, sec Hebr. L G. c. 13 and 14, and Schickardi Jus Rej;iuni IJebr. c. 5. Theor. 10. "Josh. xi. 2(i. The Jews, however, say that the (Sirgashites, believing they could not escape tlie destruction with which thoy were threatened by God, if they persisted to defend themselves, fled into Africa in great numbers; (V. Talm. Hieros. ubi sup.) Ai.d this is assigned as the veason why lire Girj^ashites are not mentioned among the other Canaanitish rations who aiiscmbled to light against Joshua, (Josh. ix. 1.) and who were doomed to utter extirpation (Deut. xx. 17-) l^ut it is obsetvahle, that the (iirgashites are not omitted by tlie Septuagint in either of tliose texts, and that tlieir name appears in tlie latter of them in the Sama- litan Pentateuch: they arc also joined wiih tlie oilier Can.ianites as liaving fought against Israel, in Josh. xxi/. 11. 3 Kor. c. 8. » lb. ■■ A bulled, in Vit. -iloh. p. IIJJ. &c. V. Kor. c. 1», and the notes there. Sect. 6.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. I99 dispose thereof as he pleased, because no horses or call! els were made use of in that expedition 1, but the whole army went on foot ; and this became thence- forM^ard a law^: the reason of which seems to be, that the spoil taken by a party consisting- of infantry only should be considered as the more immediate gift of God', and therefore properly left to the dis- position of his apostle. According to the Jews, the spoil ought to be divided into two equal parts, one to be shared among the captors, and the other to be taken by the prince ', and by him employed for his own support and the use of the public. Moses, it is true, divided one half of the plunder of the Midi- anites among those who went to battle, and the other half among all the congregation': but this, they say, being a peculiar case, and done by the express order of God himself, must not be looked on as a precedents It should seem, however, from the '»vords of Joshua to the two tribes and half, when he sent them home into Gilead after the conquest and division of the land of Canaan, that they were to divide the spoil of their enemies with their brethren, after their return': and the half which was in suc- ceeding times taken by the king was in all proba- bility taken by him as head of the community, and representing the whole body. It is remarkable that the dispute among Mohammed's men about sharing the booty at Eedr" arose on the same occasion as did that among David's soldiers in relation to the spoils recovered from the Amalekites^; those who had been in the action insisting that they who tarried by the stuff should have no part of the spoil ; and that the same decision was given in both cases, which became a law for the future, to wit, that they should part alike. The fifth part directed by the Koran to be taken ' Kor. chap. 59, and the notes there. 2 V. Abulfed. ubi sup. p. 1)1 . » V. Kor. c. 59, ubi supra. " flemar. Babyl. ad tit. Sanhedr. c. 2. V. Selden. dc .Jure Nat. et Gent. sec. Hebr. lib. (J, c. 1(J. 5 Numb. xxxi. 27. 6 V. Maim. Halaih. 3Ielach. c. 4. 7 Josh, xxii (i. « Sec Kor. c. H, and the notes there. ' 1 Sam. xxx. 21—25. 200 THK PRELIM IX All Y DISCOURSE. [Sect. 6. out of the si)oil before it be divided among ttie captors is declared to belong to God, and to the apostle, and his kindred, and the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller ' : which Avords are variously understood. Al Shafei was of opinion that the whole ought to be divided into five parts ; the first, which he called God's part, to go to the treasury, and be employed in building and repairing fortresses, bridges, and other jmblic works, and in paying salaries to magistrates, civil officers, professors of learning, ministers of public worship, &c. : the second part to be distributed among the kindred of Mo- hammed, that is, the descendants of his grandfather Hashem, and of his great uncle al Motalleb-, as well the rich as the poor, the children as the adult, the women as the men ; observing only to give a female but half the share of a male : the third part to go to the orphans : the fourth part to the poor, who have not wherewithal to maintain themselves the year roiuid, and are not able to get their livelihood : and the fifth part to travellers, who are in want on the road, notwithstanding they may be rich men in their own country '. According to Malec Ebn Ans, the whole is at the disposition of the Imam or prince, who may distribute the same at his own discretion, where he sees most need '. Abu'l Aliya went according to the letter of the Koran, and declared his opinion to be that the whole sliould be divided into six parts, and that God's part should be applied to the service of tlie Caaba : while others suppose God's j)art and the apostle's to be one and the same '. Abu Hanifa thought that the share of Mohammed and his kindred sank at that prophet's death, since which the whole ought to be divided among the orphans, the poor, and the traveller". Some insist that the kindred of Mohammed entitled to a share of the spoils are the posterity of Hashem ' Koniii, clia|). •'!. ' Note, al Sh.'ilVi liiiuhclt' was ilesccmlcd from this latter. ^ Al lieid. V. Reland. dc Jure iMilit. .'Moliani. p. 42, &c. ' Idem, s Idem. ^- Idem. Sect. 6.] THE rilELlMlNAIlY DISCOURSE. 201 only ; but those who think the descendants of his brother al Motalleb have also a right to a distributive part allege a tradition in their favour, purporting that Mohammed himself divided the share belonging to his relations among both families, and when 0th- man Ebn Assan and Jobeir Ebn Matam (who were descended from Abdshams and Navv^fal, the other brothers of Hashem), told him that, though they disputed not the preference of the Flashemites, they could not help taking it ill to see such difference made between the family of al Motalleb and them- selves, who were related to him in an equal degree, and yet had no part in the distribution, the prophet replied, that the descendants of al Motalleb had forsaken him neither in the time of ignorance, nor since the revelation of Islam ; and joined his fingers together in token of the strict union between them and the Hashemites'. Some exclude none of the tribe of Koreish from receiving a part in the division of the spoil, and make no distinction between the poor and the rich ; though, according to the more reasonable opinion, such of them as are poor only are intended by the text of the Koran, as is agreed in the case of the stranger : and others go so far as to assert that the whole fifth commanded to be reserved belongs to them only, and that the orphans, and the poor, and the traveller, are to be understood of such as are of that tribe . It must be observed, that immoveable possessions, as lands, &c. taken in war, are subject to the same laws as the moveable ; excepting only, that the fifth part of the former is not actually divided, but the income and profits thereof, or of the price thereof, if sold, are applied to public and pious uses, and distributed once a year, and that the prince may either take the fifth part of the land itself, or the fifth part of the income and produce of the whole, as he shall make his election. ' Al Bekl. v. Reland, de Jure Milit. Mohan . p. 42, &c. ^Hcir.. 2()!2 THE I'llELIIMlXAliY DKSCOUIiSE. [Sect. 7. SECTION VII. Of the Months commanded by the Koran to be kept sacred ; and of the setting apart of Friday for the especial Service of God. It was a custom among the ancient Arabs to observe four months in the year as sacred, during which they held it unlawful to wage Avar, and took off the heads from their spears, ceasing from in- cursions and other hostilities. During those months whoever was in fear of his enemy lived in full security ; so that if a man met the murderer of his father br his brother, he durst not ofTtr him any violence^ : a great argument, says a learned writer, of a humane disposition in that nation ; who being, by reason of the independent governments of their several tribes, and for the preservation of their just rights, exposed to frequent quarrels with one an- other, had yet learned to cool their inflamed breasts with moderation, and restrain the rage of war by stated times of truce". This institution obtained among all the Arabian tribes, except only those of Tay and Khathaam, and some of the descendants of al Haretli Ebn Caab, (who distinguished no time or place as sacred'), and was so religiously observed, that there are but few instances in history (four, say some, six, say others ), of its having been transgressed ; the Avars Avhich were carried on without regard thereto being there- fore termed impious. One of those instances \vas ' Al Kaswini, apiid Golium in notis ad Alt'rag. p. 4, (Sec Al Shahrestaiii, apud I'oc. Sj)cc. p. 311. Al Jawhari, :d Firauzub. ^ (iolius, ubi sup. p. 5. -» Al Shahrestaiii, ubi sup. Slc before, p. l'>7. ' Al Mo{dioItai. Sect. 7.] THE niELIMIKAllY DISCOUKSE. 203 in the war between the tribes of Koreish and Kais Allan, wherein Mohammed himself served under his uncles, being then fourteen ^ or, as others say, twenty" years old. The months which the Arabs held sacred were al Moharram, Rajeb, Dhu'lkaada, and Dhu'lhajja ; the first, the seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth in the )^ear \ Dhu'lhajja being the month wherein they performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, not only that month, but also the preceding and the following were for that reason kept inviolable, that every one might safely and without interruption pass and repass to and from the festival '. Rajeb is said to have been more strictly observed than any of the other three", probably because in that month the pagan Arabs used to fast ' ; Ramadan, which was afterwards set apart by Mohammed for that purpose, being in the time of ignorance dedicated to drinking in excess'. By reason of the profound peace and security enjoyed in this month, one part of the provisions brought by the caravans of purveyors annually set out by the Koreish for the supply of Mecca" was distributed among the people ; the other part being, for the like reason, distributed at the pilgrimage '. The observance of the aforesaid months seemed so reasonable to Mohammed, that it met with his approbation ; and the same is accordingly confirmed and enforced by several passages of the Koran ^°, which forbid war to be waged during those months ' Abulfeda, Vit. Moh. ij, 11. ■^ Al Eodai, al Firauz. apud Pec. Spec. p. 174. Al Mogholta'i nieiitioris both opir.iojiS. 3 Mr. Bayle (Diet. Kisr. et Crit. Art. la M:icque, Rem. F.) accuses Dr. Prideaux of an inconsistency for saying in one place (Life of J\lali. p. G4.) that these sacred months were the first, the seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth, and intimating in another place (lb. p. SD.) that three of them were contiguous. But this must be mere absence of mind in Mr. liayle: for are not the eleventh, the twelfth", and the first months contiguous? The two learned pvofessors, Gciius and Reland, have also made a small slip in speaking of these sacred months, v/hich, they tell us, are the two first and the two last in the j'ear. V. (iolii Lex. Arab. col. 6()1, et Reland. de Jure TlIiHt. Mo- haimiiedanor. p. 5. •» V. Gol. in Alfrag. p. 9. 5 V. ibid. p. G. ^ ^1 Walcrizi, apud Poc. ubi supra. 7 Idem, et Auctor Neshk al Azhar, ibid. ** See Koran, chap. lOG. ^ Al Edrisi apud Poc. Specim. p. 127- '" Cliap. f>. chap. 2, p. 32. chap. 1, p. \\(j. chap. 5, p. 136, 1. ubi supra. Sect. 7.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 205 prohibits a different thing, but one a little before it, wherein the number of months in the year, accord- ing to the ordinance of God, is declared to be twelve^; whereas, if the intercalation of a month were allowed, every third or second year would consist of thirteen, contrary to God's appointment. The setting apart of one day in the week for the more peculiar attendance on God's worship, so strictly required by the Jewish and Christian religions, appeared to Mohammed to be so proper an insti- tution, that he could not but imitate the professors thereof in that particular ; though, for the sake of distinction, he might think himself obliged to order his followers to observe a different day from either. Several reasons are given why the sixth day of the week was pitched on for this purpose-; but Mo- hammed seems to have preferred that day chiefly because it was the day on which the people used to be assembled long before his time^, though such assemblies were had, perhaps, rather on a civil than a religious account. However it be, the Mo- hammedan writers bestoAv very extraordinary enco- miums on this day, calling it the prince of days, and the most excellent day on which the sun rises '; pretending also that it will be the day whereon the last judgment will be solemnized' : and they esteem it a peculiar honour to Islam, that God has been pleased to appoint this day to be the feast-day of the Moslems, and granted them the advantage of having first observed it '. Though the Mohammedans do not think them- selves bound to keep their day of public worship so holy as the Jews and Christians are certainly obliged to keep theirs, there being a permission, as is ge- nerally supposed, in the Koran', allowing them to ' Kor. chap. 9. See also chap. 2, p. 32. - See chap. G'.i, and the notes there. ^ Al BeidSwi. 4 Ebn al Athir, et al Ghazali, apud Poc. Spec. p. 317. 5 lideiii. <■' Al Ghazali, ibid. 7 Chap. f>3, ubi supra. 206 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 7- return to their employments or diversion after divine service is over ; yet the more devout disapprove the applying of any part of that day to worldly affairs, and require it to be wholly dedicated to the business of the life to come \ Since I have mentioned the Mohammedan weekly feast, I beg leave just to take notice of their two Beirams ', or principal annual feasts. The first of them is called, in Arabic, Id al fetr, i. e. The feast of breaking the fast, and begins the first of Shawiil, immediately succeeding the fast of Ramadan ; and the other is called Id al korban, or Id al adha, i. e. The feast of the sacrifice, and begins on the tenth of Dhu'lhajja, when the victims are slain at the pilgrimage of Mecca'. The former of these feasts is properly tlie lesser Beiram, and the latter the greater Beiram' : but the vulgar, and most authors who have written of the Mohammedan affairs', ex- change the epithets, and call that which follows Ramadan the greater Beiram, because it is observed in an extraordinary manner, and kept for three days together at Constantinople and in other parts of Turkey, and in Persia for five or six days, by the common people at least, with great demonstrations of public joy, to make themselves amends, as it were, for the mortification of the preceding month ; whereas the feast of sacrifices, though it be also kept for three days, and the first of them be the most solemn day of the pilgrimage, the principal act of devotion among the Mohammedans, is taken much less notice of by the generality of people, who are not struck therewith because the ceremonies with which the same is observed are performed at Mecca, the only scene of that solemnity. ' Al (ihaziili, ubi sup. p. .'J18. » The word Beiiiini is Turkish, and pro- perly signifies a feast-day or holiday. 3 Sec chap. !», and before. ^ IV. p. 1 (>.'). 4 v. Rcland, dc Rclig. IMoh. p. lOJ), et D'Herbcl. Bibl. Orient. Art. BeirAni. 5 Hyde, in notis ad Bobov. p. Hi. Chardin, \'oy. de I'crsc, Tom. II. p. ^."(O. Ricaut's State of tliu Ottoman Empire, 1. 2, c. 24, \e. « \'. Cliardin, et Ricaut, ubi sujjra. Sect. 8.] THE rREi-i]\riNAriY discourse. 207 SECTION VIII. Of the principal Sects among the Mohammedans ; and of those who have pretended to Prophecy among the Arabs, in or since the Time of Mo- hammed. Before we take a view of the sects of the Mo- hammedans, it will be necessary to say something of the two sciences by which ail disputed questions among them are determined, viz. their Scholastic and Practical Divinity. Their scholastic divinity is a mongrel science, consisting of logical, metaphysical, theological, and philosophical disquisitions, and built on principles and methods of i-easoning very different from what are used by those who pass among the Mohammedans themselves for the sounder divines or more able philosophers ', and therefore in the partition of the sciences this is generally left out, as unworthy a place among them-. The learned Maimonides^ has laboured to expose the principles and systems of the scholastic divines, as frequently repugnant to the nature of the world and the order of the creation, and intolerably absurd. This art of handling religious disputes was not known in the infancy of Mohammedism, but was brought in when sects sprang up, and articles of religion began to be called in question, and was at first made use of to defend the truth of those arti- . '1/°"' M V^"' ?Vr r^^- • ' ^P""^ ^''" ^"^^' •" ^'^^^° de Divisione Scientiar. et ^asirodchn al Tusi, m prsfut. ad Ethic. 3 More Nevoch. 1. 1, c. 71, 208 THK I'PvELnilXARV DISCOUKSE. [Sect. S. cles against innovators ^ ; and while it keeps within those bounds is allowed to be a commendable study, being necessary for the defence of the faith : but when it proceeds farther, out of an itch of disputa- tion, it is judged worthy of censure. This is the o])inion of al Ghazali-, who observes a medium between those who have too hi^h a value for this science, and those who absolutely reject it. Among the latter was al Shafei, who declared that, in his judgment, if any man employed his time that way, he deserved to be fixed to a stake, and carried about through all the Arab tribes, with the following proclamation to be made before him : This is the reward of him who, leaving the Koran and the Sonna, applied himself to the study of scholastic divinity. Al Ghazali, on the other hand, thinks that as it was introduced by the invasion of heresies, it is necessary to be retained in order to quell them : but then in the person who studies this science he requires three things, diligence, acuteness of judg- ment, and probity of manners ; and is by no means for suffering the same to be publicly explained \ This science, therefore, among the Mohammedans, is the art of controversy, by ^\'hich they discuss points of faith, concerning the essence and attributes of God, and the conditions of all possible things, either in respect to their creation, or final restora- tion, according to the rules of the religion of Islam '. The other science is practical divinity or juris- prudence, and is the knowledge of the decisions of the law^ which regard practice, gathered from di- stinct proofs. Al Ghazali declares that he had nuich the same opinion of this science as of the former, its original being owing to the corruption of religion and mo- rality ; and therefore judged l)oth sciences to be ' Al Ghazali, iipiul Poc. ubi supra. •= Ibid. 3 V. Vol: ib. p. l!t7- * Al Ghazil. ibid. s Ebn al Kossii. apud ciind. 'bid. p. llt.'i. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 209 necessary not in themselves, but by accident only, to curb the irregular imaginations and passions of man- kind (as guards become necessary in the highways by reason of robbers) ; the end of the first being the suppressing of heresies, and of the other the decision of legal controversies, for the quiet and peaceable living of mankind in this world, and for the pre- serving the rule by which the magistrate may pre- vent one man from injuring another, by declaring what is lawful and what is unlawful, by determining the satisfaction to be given, or punishment to be in- flicted, and by regulating other outward actions ; and not only so, but to decide of religion itself and its conditions, so far as relates to the profession made by the mouth, it not being the business of the civilian to inquire into the heart ' : the depravity of men's manners, however, has made this knowledge of the laws so very requisite, that it is usually called the science, by way of excellence, nor is any man reck- oned learned who has not applied himself thereto -. The points of faith, subject to the examination and discussion of the scholastic divines, are reduced to four general heads, which they call the four bases, or great fundamental articles ^. The first basis relates to the attributes of God, and his unity consistent therewith. Under this head are comprehended the questions concerning the eternal attributes, which are asserted by some, and denied by others ; and also the explication of the essential attributes, and attributes of action ; what is proper for God to do, and what may be affirmed of him, and what it is impossible for him to do. These things are controverted between the Asharians, the Keramians, the Mojassemians or Corporalists, and the Motazalites ^. The second basis^ regards predestination, and the justice thereof: which comprises the questions con- ' Al Ghazali. V. ibid. p. 108—204. ^ V. ib. p. 201. 3 V. Abu'lfarag. Hist. Dynast, p. lG(i. 4 Al Shahrestani, apud Poc. ubi sup. p. 204, ^c VOX,. I. r 210 THE PREl.miNAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. B. cerning God's purpose and decree, man's compulsion or necessity to act, and his co-operation in producing actions, by which lie may gain to himself good or evil ; and also those which concern God's willing good and evil, and what things are subject to his j)ower, and what to his knowledge; some main- taining the affirmative, and others the negative. These points are disputed among the Kadarians, the Najarians, the Jabarians, the Asharians, and the Keramians '. The third basis concerns the promises and threats, the precise acceptation of names used in divinity, and the divine decisions ; and comprehends ques- tions relating to faith, repentance, promises, threats, forbearance, infidelity and error. The controversies under this head are on foot between the Morgians, the Waidians, the Motazalites, the Asharians, and the Ker^lmians^ The fourth basis regards history and reason, that is, the just weight they ought to have in matters belonging to faith and religion ; and also the mission of prophets, and the office of Imam, or chief pontiff. Under this head are comprised all casuistical ques- tions relating to the moral beauty or tm'pitude of actions ; inquiring whether things are allowed or forbidden by reason of their own natiu'e, or by the positive law ; and also questions concerning the pre- ference of actions, the favour or grace of God, the innocence which ought to attend the prophetical office, and the conditions requisite in the office of Imam ; some asserting it depends on right of suc- cession, others on the consent of the faithful, and also the method of transferring it, with the former, and of confirming it, with the latter. These mat- ters are the subjects of dispute between the Shiites, the Motazalites, the Keramians, and the Asharians'. The different sects of Mohammedans may be di- » Al Shahrestini, apud Poc. ubi sup. p. 205. ' IdetD, ib. p. 206. Idem, ibid. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 211 stingiiished into two sorts ; those generally esteemed orthodox, and those which are esteemed heretical. The former, by a general name, are called Son- nites or Traditionists ; because they acknowledge the authority of the Sonna, or collection of moral traditions of the sayings and actions of their pro- phet, which is a sort of supplement to the Koran, directing the observance of several things omitted in that book, and in name, as well as design, answering to the Mishna of the Jews \ The Sonnites are subdivided into four chief sects, which, notwithstanding some diiferences as to legal conclusions in their interpretation of the Koran, and matters of practice, are generally acknowledged to be orthodox in radicals, or matters of faith, and capable of salvation, and have each of them their several stations or oratories in the temple of Mecca -. The founders of these sects are looked upon as the great masters of jurisprudence, and are said to have been men of great devotion and self-denial, well versed in the knowledge of those things which be- long to the next life and to man's right conduct here, and directing all their knowledge to the glory of God. This is al Ghazali's encomium of them, who thinks it derogatory to their honour that their names should be used by those who, neglecting to imitate the other virtues which make up their character, apply themselves only to attain their skill, and follow their opinions in matters of legal practice ^ The first of the four orthodox sects is that of the Hanefites, so named from their founder, Abu Hanifa al Noman Ebn Thabet, who was born at Cufa, in the eightieth year of the Hejra, and died in the one hundred and fiftieth, according to the more pre- ferable opinion as to the time *. He ended his life in prison at Baghdad, where he had been confined ' V. Poc. Spec. p. 298. Prid. Lifeof Mah. p. 51, &c. Reland. de ReL Moh. p. 68, &c. Millium, de Mohammedismo, ante Moh. p. 368, 3C9. * See before, p. 158. 3 V. Poc. Spec. p. 293. * Ebn Khalecan. P2 212 THE rRF.i,i:\rTXA-RY DT.scon^sF.. [Sect. 8. because he refused to be made KAdi or judge ' ; on which account he was very hardly dealt with by his superiors, yet could not be prevailed on, either by threats or ill treatment, to undertake the charge, choosing rather to be punished by them than by God, says al Ghazali ; who adds, that when he excused himself from accepting the office by alleging that he was unfit for it, being asked the reason, lie replied, " If I speak the truth, I am unfit ; but if I tell a lie, a liar is not fit to be a judge." It is said that he read over the Koran in the prison where he died, no less than seven thousand times ". The Hanefites are called by an Arabian writer" the followers of reason, and those of the three other sects, followers of tradition; the former being prin- cipally guided by their own judgment in their de- cisions, and the latter adhering more tenaciously to the traditions of Mohammed. The sect of Abu Hanifa heretofore obtained chiefly in Irak ', but now generally prevails among the Turks and Tartars : his doctrine was brought into great credit by Abu Yusof, chief justice under the Khalifs al Iladi and Harun al Rashid \ The second orthodox sect is that of Mfdec Ebn Ans, who was born at Medina, in the year of the Hejra, 90, 93, 94', or 95', and died there in 177 \ 178', or 179 ^'^ (for so much do authors differ). This doctor is said to have paid great regard to the traditions of Mohannned''. In his last illness, a friend going to visit him found him in tears, and asking him the reason of it, he answered, " How should I not weep? and who has more reason to > This was the true cause of his imprisonnicnt and death, and not his refusing to subscribe to the opinion of absolute predestination, as D'Herbelot writes (Bibl. Orient p. 21.), misled by the dubious .icccptation of the word Kada, which signifies not only God's decree in particular, but also the givinjj sentence as a judge in general : nor could Abu Hanifa have been reckoned orthodox had he denied one of the principal articles of faith. ' Poc. Spec p. '2'Ju 298. 3 Al Shahrcstkni, ibid. •» Idem. s V. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 21, 22. *> Abulfeda. . t Ebn Khakciin. 8 idem. ' Ahul- feda. "> Elmacinus, p. 114. " El)n Khalcc. V. Poc. Spec. p. 2!I4. Sect. 8.] THE PllELIJMINAllY DISCOUKSE. 213 ^yeep than I ? Would to God that for every ques- tion decided by me according to my own opinion I had received so many stripes ! then would my ac- coimts be easier. Would to God I had never given any decision of my own ' !" Al Ghazali thinks it a sufficient proof of Malec's directing his knowledge to the glory of God, that being once asked his opinion as to forty-eight questions, his answer to thirty-two of them was, that he did not know ; it being no easy matter for one who has any other view than God's glory to make so frank a confession of his ignorance -. The doctrine of Malec is chiefly followed in Bar- bary and other parts of Africa. The author of the third orthodox sect was Mo- hammed Ebn Edris al Shafei, born either at Gaza or Ascalon m Palestine, in the year of the Hejra one hundred and fifty, the same day (as some will have It) that Abu Hanifa died, and was carried to Mecca at two years of age, and there educated \ He died in two hundred and four \ in Egypt, whither he went about five years before \ This doctor is celebrated for his excellency in all parts of learning, and was much esteemed by Ebn Hanbal his con- temporary, who used to say that " he was as the sun to the Avorld, and as health to the body." Ebn Hanbal, however, had so ill an opinion of al Shafei at first, that he forbade his scholars to go near him • but some time after one of them, meeting his master trudging on foot after al Shafei, who rode on a mule asked him how it came about that he forbade them to' tollow him, and did it himself? to which Ebn Han- bal replied, " Hold thy peace ; if thou but attend his mule thou wilt profit thereby °." Al Shafei is said to have been the first who dis- coursed of jurisprudence, and reduced that science into a method 7; one wittily saying, that the re- ' Ebn Khalec. V. Poc. Spec. p. 294. ^ ai Gha?ali ibid j n 214 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8, lators of the traditions of Moliammed were asleep till al Shafei came and waked them '. He was a great enemy to the scholastic divines, as has been already observed -. Al Ghazali tells us that al Shafei used to divide the night into three parts, one for study, another for prayer, and the third for sleep. It is also related of him that he never so much as once swore by God, either to confirm a truth, or to affirm a falsehood ; and that being once asked his opinion, he remained silent for some time, and when the reason of his silence was demanded, he answered, " I am considering first whether it be better to speak or to hold my tongue." The following saying is also recorded of him, viz, " Whoever pretends to love the world and its Creator at the same time is a liar ^" The followers of this doctor are from him called Shafei tes, and were formerly spread intoMawara'lnahr and other parts eastward, but are now chiefly of Arabia and Persia. Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, the founder of the fourth sect, was born in the year of the Hejra one hundred and sixty-four ; but as to the place of his birth there are two traditions : some say he was born at Merii in Khorasan, of which city his parents were, and that his mother brought him from thence to Bagh- dad at her breast ; while others assure us that she was with child of him when she came to Baghdad, and that he was born there \ Ebn Hanbal in pro- cess of time attained a great reputation on account of his virtue and knowledge ; being so well versed in the traditions of Mohammed, in particular, that it is said he could repeat no less than a million of them \ He was very intimate with al Shafei, from whom he received most of his traditionary know- ledge, being his constant attendant till his departure for Egypt ''. Refusing to acknowledge the Koran to ' Al Zafariiii, «pud Poc. Spec. p. 201',. a See before, p. 20!). 3 V, Poc. Spec. p. 295— 2!»7- •• El)n Khakcrm. i Idem. " Idem. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 215 be created S he was, by order of the Khalif al M6- tasem, severely scourged and imprisoned-. Ebn Hanbal died at Baghdad, in the year two hundred and forty-one, and was followed to his grave by eight hundred thousand men, and sixty thousand women. It is related, as something very extraor- dinary, if not miraculous, that on the day of his death no less than twenty thousand Christians, Jews, and Magians, embraced the Mohammedan faith '. This sect increased so fast, and became so powerful and bold, that in the year three hundred and twenty- three, in the Khalifat of al Radi, they raised a great commotion in Baghdad, entering people's houses, and spilling their wine, if they found any, and beating the singing-women they met with, and breaking their instruments ; and a severe edict was published against them, before they could be reduced to their duty * : but the Hanbalites at present are not very numerous, few of them being to be met with out of the limits of Arabia. The heretical sects among the Mohammedans are those which hold heterodox opinions in fundamentals or matters of faith. The first controversies relating to fundamentals began when most of the companions of Mohammed were dead * : for in their days was no dispute, unless about things of small moment, if we except only the dissensions concerning the Imams, or rightful suc- cessors of their prophet, which were stirred up and fomented by interest and ambition ; the Arabs' con- tinual employment in the wars, during that time, allowing them little or no leisure to enter into nice inquiries and subtle distinctions : but no sooner was the ardour of conquest a little abated than they began to examine the Koran more nearly ; whereupon dif- ' See before, sect. III. p. 92, &c. Ebn Khalecan, Abu'lfarag. Hist. Dyn. p. 252, &c 3 Ebn Khalecan. * Abu'lfar. ubt sup. p. 301, &c. 5 Al Shahrestani, apud Poc. Spec. p. 194. Auctor Sharh al IMawakef, apud eund. p. 210. 216 THE PKELIMINARY DISCOUIISK. [Scct. 8. ferences in opinion became unavoidable, and at length so greatly multiplied, that the number of their sects, according to the common opinion, are seventy-three. For the INIohammedans seem ambitious that their re- ligion should exceed others even in this respect ; saying, that the Magians are divided into seventy sects, the Jews into seventy-one, the Christians into seventy-two, and the Moslems into seventy-three, as Mohammed had foretold': of which sects they reckon one to be always orthodox, and entitled to salvation \ The first heresy was that of the Kharejites, who revolted from Ali in the thirty-seventh year of the Hejra ; and not long after, Mabad al Johni, Ghailan of Damascus, and Jonas al AswAri broached hete- rodox opinions concerning predestination, and the ascribing of good and evil unto God ; whose opinions were followed by ^Vasel Ebn Ata ^. This latter was the scholar of Hasan of Basra, in whose school a question being proposed, whether he who had com- mitted a grievous sin was to be deemed an infidel or not, the Kharejites (who used to come and dispute there) maintaining the affirmative, and the orthodox the negative, AVasel, without waiting his master's decision, withdrew abruptly, and began to publish among his fellow-scholars a new opinion of his own, to wit, that such a sinner was in a middle state ; and he was thereupon expelled the school ; he and his followers being thenceforth called Motazalites, or Separatists '. The several sects which liave arisen since this time are variously compounded and decompounded of the opinions of four chief sects, the JMotazalites, the Se- fatians, the Kharejites, and the Shiites \ • V. Poc. Spec. p. 104. '^ Al Shahrestiini, apud eund. p 211. 3 Idem, and Auctor Sharli al Mawakef, ubi sup. •> lideni, ib. j). 211,212. Et Ebn Khaleciin, in A'ita A^'aseli. s .Al SIlal^^e^t^lni, wlio also reduces thcni to four chief sects, puts tlie Kadarians in the j)lace of the Motazalites. Abu'Ifanagius (Hist. Dyn. p. Kit!.) reckons six piincipal sects, adding the Jab.arians and the Morgians; and the author of Sha:h al JMawakcf, eight, viz. the Motazalites, the Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 217 I. I'lie Motazalites were the followers of the be- fore-mentioned Wasel Ebn Ata. As to their chief and general tenets, 1. They entirely rejected all eternal attributes of God, to avoid the distinction of persons made by the Christians ; saying that eternity is the proper or formal attribute of his essence ; that God knows by his essence, and not by his knowledge ^ ; and the same they affirmed of his other attributes '^ (though all the Motazalites do not understand these words in one sense) ; and hence this sect were also named Moattalites, from their divesting God of his attributes ^ : and they went so far as to say, that to affirm these attributes is the same thing as to make more eternals than one, and that the unity of God is inconsistent with such an opinion * ; and this was the true doctrine of Wasel their master, who de- clared that whoever asserted an eternal attribute asserted there were two Gods K This point of spe- culation concerning the divine attributes was not ripe at first, but was at length brought to maturity by Wasel's followers, after they had read the books of the philosophers ^ a. They believed the word of God to have been created in subjecto (as the school- men term it), and to consist of letters and sound; copies thereof being written in books, to express or imitate the original. They also went farther, and affirmed that whatever is created in subjecto is also an accident, and liable to perish \ 3. They denied absolute predestination, holding that God was not the author of evil, but of good only ; and that man was a free agent ^ : which being properly the opinion Shiites, the Kharejiles, tlie IMorgians, the Najarians, the Jabarians, the Mosh- abbehites, and the sect which he calls al Najia, because that alone will be saved, being according to him the sect of the Asharians. V. Poc. Spec. p. 200. ' Maimonides teaches the same, not as the doctrine of the Motazalites, but his own. v. More Nev. 1. 1. c. 57- ^ Al Shahrestani, apud Poc. Spec p. 214. Abu'lfarag. p. 167. ^ V. Poc. Spec. p. 224. " Sharh al Mawikef, and al Shahrest. apud Poc. p. 21G. Rlaimonides (in Proleg. ad Pirke Aboth, § viii.) asserts the same thing. s V. Poc. ibid. « Al Shahrest. ib. p. 213. 7 Abiu'lfarag. and al Shahrest. ubi sup. p. 217- See before, sect. III. p. 92. 8 V. Poc. Spec. p. 240. 218 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. of the Kadarians, we defer what may be farther said thereof till we come to sj)eak of that sect. On ac- count of this tenet and the first, the Mutazalites look- on themselves as the defenders of the unity and justice of God '. 4. They held that if a professor of the true religion be guilty of a grievous sin, and die without repentance, he will be eternally damned, though his punishment will be lighter than that of the infidels "". 5. They denied all vision of God in paradise by the corporeal eye, and rejected all com- parisons or similitudes applied to God \ This sect are said to have been the first inventors of scholastic divinity \ and are subdivided into several inferior sects, amounting, as some reckon, to twenty, which mutually brand one another with infidelity ' : the most remarkable of them are, 1. The Hodeilians, or followers of Hamdan Abu Hodeil, a Motazalite doctor, who differed something from the common form of expression used by this sect, saying that God knew by his knowledge, but that his knowledge was his essence ; and so of the other attributes : which opinion he took from the philosophers, who affirm the essence of God to be simple, and without multiplicity, and that his at- tributes are not posterior or accessory to his essence, or subsisting therein, but are his essence itself; and this the more orthodox take to be next kin to making distinctions in the deity, which is the thing they so much abhor in the Christians ". As to the Koran's being created, he made some distinction ; holding the word of God to be partly not in su})jecto (and therefore uncreated), as when he spake the word Klin, i. e. Fiat, at the creation, and partly m sub- jec/o, as the precepts, prohibitions, &c. ' Marracci" mentions an opinion of Abu HodeiFs concerning pre- ' Al Shahrest and Sharh al Mawakef, apud Poc. ubi sup. p. 214. ' Mar- race. Prodr. ad Ruf. Alcor. part. III. p. 74. 3 Idem, ib. •» V. Poc. Spec. p. 2i;$. and D'llerbcl. Ait. MoUizdali. s Auctor al Ulawakcf. apud Poc. ib. « Al Shaluestiui, apud Poc. p. 2lr., 21(i, 217- ^ Idem, apud cund. p. 217, &c. " In Prodr. part 3. p. 74. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 219 destination, from an Arab writer \ which being by him expressed in a manner not very intelligible, I choose to omit. 2. The Jobbaians, or followers of Abu Ali Mo- hammed Ebn Abd al Wahhab, surnamed al Jobbai, whose meaning when he made use of the common expression of the Motazalites, that God knows by his essence, &c. was, that God*s being knowing is not an attribute, the same with knowledge, nor such a state as rendered his being knowing necessary -. He held God's word to be created in subjecto, as in the preserved table, for example, the memory of Gabriel, Mohammed, &c. ^ This sect, if Marracci has given the true sense of his author, denied that God could be seen in paradise without the assistance of corporeal eyes ; and held that man produced his acts by a power superadded to health of body and soundness of limbs ; that he who was guilty of a mortal sin was neither a believer nor an infidel, but a transgressor (which was the original opinion of Wasel), and if he died in his sins would be doomed to hell for eternity ; and that God conceals nothing of whatever he knows from his servants *. 3. The Hashemians ; who were so named from their master Abu Hashem al Salam, the son of Abu Ali al Jobbai, and whose tenets nearly agreed with those of the preceding sect \ Abu Hashem took the Motazalite form of expression, that God knows by his essence, in a different sense from others, sup- posing it to mean, that God hath or is endued with a disposition, which is a known property, or quality, posterior or accessory to his existence ^ His fol- lowers were so much afraid of making God the author of evil, that they would not allow him to be said to create an infidel; because, according to their way of arguing, an infidel is a compound of infidelity ' Al Shahrest. * Idem, apud Poc. Spec. p. 215. 3 Idem, and Auctor al fllawakef, ib. p. 218. 4 Marracci, ubi sup. p. 75. ex al Shahrest. 5 v. Eund. ib. « Al Shahrest. apud Poc. p. 215. 220 THE pju:li3iixakv Discuuusi:. [Sect. 8. and man, and God is not the creator of infidelity'. Abu Ilaslieni, and liis father Abu Ali al Jobbiii, were both celebrated for their skill in scholastic divinity '. 4. The Nodhamians, or followers of Ibrahim al Nodham ; who having read books of philosopliy, set up a new sect, and imagining he could not suf- ficiently remove God from being the author of evil, without divesting him of his power in respect thereto, taught that no power ought to be ascribed to God concerning evil and rebellious actions : but this he affirmed against the opinion o fhis own dis- ciples, who allowed that God could do evil, but did not, because of its turpitude'. Of his opinion as to the Koran being created we have spoken elsewhere \ 5. The Hayetians, so named from Ahmed Ebu Hayet, who had been of the sect of the Nodhamians, but broached some new notions on reading the phi- losophers. His peculiar opinions were, 1. That Christ was the eternal word incarnate, and took a true and real body, and will judge all creatures in the life to come': he also farther asserted, that there are two Gods, or Creators ; the one eternal, viz. the most high God, and the other not eternal, viz. Christ"; which oijinion, though Dr. Pocock urges the same as an argument that he did not rightly understand the Christian mysteries', is not much different from that of the Arians and Socinians. 2. That there is a successive transmigration of the soul from one body into another ; and that the last body will enjoy the reward or suffer the punishment due to each soul"; and 3. That God will be seen at the resur- rection, not with the bodily eyes, but those of the understanding ". > Al Slialiiest. apud Poc. p. 242. » Ebn Khalecan, in vitis eorum. * Al Shahrest. ubi sup- p. 211,242. V. Marracc. Prod, part 3, p. 74. « Sec before, Sect. III. p. ill. s Al Slialirest. ubi sup. p. 21ff. Abu'lfarag. p. 1<»7. ' Al Sliabrrst. al i\l;iwalaf, ct Ebu Kosta, apud l*oc. ubi sup. p.21'J. 7 V.Poc. ib. * 3Iarracc. ct al Shahrest. ubi sup. ^ Marracc. ib. p. 7^. Sect. 8.] THE rRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 231 . 6. The Jahedhians, or followers of Amru Ebn Bahr, surnamed al Jahedh, a great doctor of the Motazalites, and very much admired for the elegance of his composures ' ; who differed from his brethren in that he imagined the damned would not be eter- nally tormented in hell, but would be changed into the nature of fire, and that the fire would of itself attract them, without any necessity of their going into it"-. He also taught that if a man believed God to be his Lord, and Mohammed the apostle of God, he became one of the faithful, and was obliged to nothing further'. His pecvdiar opinion as to the Koran has been taken notice of before \ 7. The Mozdarians, who embraced the opinions of Isa Ebn Sobeih al Mozdar, and those very absurd ones : for, besides his notions relating to the Koran \ he went so directly counter to the opinion of those who abridged God of the powder to do evil, that he affirmed it possible for God to be a liar, and unjust*^. He also pronounced him to be an infidel who thrust himself into the supreme government' : nay he went so far as to assert men to be infidels while they said, There is no God but God, and even condemned all the rest of mankind as guilty of infidelity ; upon which Ibrahim Ebn al Sendi asked him w^hether paradise, whose breadth equals that of heaven and earth, was created only for him and two or three more who thought as he did ? to which it is said he could return no answer ^ 8. The Basharians, wdio maintained the tenets of Bashar Ebn Motamer, the master of al Mozdar ', and a principal man among the Motazalites. He differed in some things from the general opinion of that sect, carrying man s free agency to a great excess, making it even independent: and yet he ' v. D'Herbel. Blbl. Orient, art. Giahedh. ^ Al Shalircst. ubi sup. p. 200 3 Marracc. ubi sup. 4 Sect. III. p. 94. 5 V. ib. et )). Vi'.i. « Al Shahrest. •npud Poc. p. 241. ^ Marracc. ubi sup. p. 75. •• Al t^haliresUuii, ubi sup. p. 220. " Poc. Spec. p. 221. 222 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. thought God might doom an infant to eternal pu- nishment, but granted he would be unjust in so doing. lie taught that God is not always obliged to do tliat which is best, for, if he pleased, he could make all men true believers. These sectaries also held, that if a man repent of a mortal sin, and after- wards return to it, he will be liable to suffer the punishment due to the former transgression'. 9. The Thamamians, who followed Thamama Ebn Bashar, a chief Motazalite. Their peculiar opinions were, 1. That sinners should remain in hell for ever. 2. That free actions have no producing author. 3. That at the resurrection all infidels, idolaters, atheists, Jews, Christians, Magians, and heretics, shall be reduced to dust\ 10. The Kadarians ; which is really a more ancient name than that of Motazalites ; Mabad al Johni and his adherents being so called, who disputed the doctrine of predestination before Wasel quitted his master'; for which reason some use the denomina- tion of Kadarians as more extensive than the other, and comprehend all the Motazalites under it\ This sect deny absolute predestination, saying that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to God, but to man, who is a free agent, and may therefore be rewarded or punished for his actions, which God has granted him power either to do or to let alone*. And hence it is said they are called Kadarians, because they deny al Kadr, or God's absolute decree ; though others, thinking it not so proper to affix a name to a sect from a doctrine which they combat, will have it come from Kadr, or Kodrat, i. e. power, because they assert man's power to act freely*'. Those, liowever, who give the name of Kadarians to the Motazalites are their enemies, for they dis- claim it, and give it to their antagonists the Jaba- ' IVIarracc. ubi sup. ^ Idem, ib. 3 ,V1 Sliahrcst. * A\ Firauzab. v. Pou Spec. p. 2:il, 2.'52, et 214. s Al Shr.hrest. V. Poc Spec p. 235, e( 240, &c. « V. Poc. ib. p. 2H8. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 223 rians, who likewise refuse it as an infamous appella- tion \ because Mohammed is said to have declared the Kadarians to be the Magians of his followers'. But what the opinion of these Kadarians in Mo- hammed's time w^as is very uncertain : the Motaza- lites say the name belongs to those who assert predestination, and make God the author of good and evil % viz. the Jabarians ; but all the other Mo- hammedan sects agree to fix it on the Motazalites, who they say are like the Magians in establishing two principles, light, or God, the author of good, and darkness, or the Devil, the author of evil : but this cannot absolutely be said of the Motazalites, for they (at least the generality of them) ascribe men's good deeds to God, but their evil deeds to themselves ; meaning thereby that man has a free liberty and power to do either good or evil, and is master of his actions ; and for this reason it is that the other Mohammedans call them Magians, because they assert another author of actions besides God*. And, indeed, it is a difficult matter to say what Moham- med's own opinion was in this matter ; for on the one side the Koran itself is pretty plain for absolute predestination, and many sayings of Mohammed are recorded to that purpose^, and one in particular, wherein he introduces Adam and Moses disputing before God in this manner : Thou, says Moses, art Adam ; whom God created, and animated with the breath of life, and caused to be worshipped by the angels, and placed in paradise, from whence mankind have been expelled for thy fault : whereto Adam answered. Thou art Moses ; whom God chose for his apostle, and entrusted with his word, by giving thee the tables of the law, and whom he vouchsafed to admit to discourse with himself: how many years dost thou find the law was written ' Al Motarrezi, al Shahrest. V. ib. p. 232. » liJera, &c. ibid. 3 lidem, ib. 4 V. Poc. ib. p. 233, &c. s V. ib. p. 237- '224f THE PllELIMINAUY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. before I was created? Says Moses, Forty: And dost thou not find, replied Adam, these words therein ; And Adam rebelled against his Lord and transgressed? which Moses confessing, Dost thou therefore blame me, continued he, for doing that which God wrote of me that I should do, forty years before I was created ; nay, for what was decreed concerning me fifty thousand years before the cre- ation of heaven and earth ? In the conclusion of which dispute Mohammed declared that Adam had the better of Moses '. On the other side, it is urged in the behalf of the Motazalites, that Mohammed declaring that the Kadarians and Magians had been cursed by the tongues of seventy prophets, and being asked who the Kadarians were, answered. Those who assert that God predestinated them to be guilty of rebellion, and yet punishes them for it : al Hasan is also said to have declared, that God sent Mohammed to the Arabs while they were Kadarians, or Jabarians, and laid their sins upon God : and to confirm the matter this sentence of the Koran is quoted^; When they commit a filthy action, they say, We found our fathers practising the same, and God hath commanded us so to do : Say, A'^erily God commandeth not filthy actions \ II. The Sefatians held the opposite opinion to the Motazalites in respect to the eternal attributes of God, which they affirmed ; making no distinction between the essential attributes and those of opera- tion : and hence they were named Sefatians, or Attributists. Their doctrine was that of the first Mohammedans, who were not yet acquainted with these nice distinctions : but this sect afterwards in- troduced another species of declarative attributes, or such as were necessarily used in historical narration, as hands, face, eyes, &c. which they did not ofi'er to • Ebn al Athir, al Bokhari, apud Poc. p. 23(;. ■> Chap. 7- " Al I\Iotar. r?zi, apud e ind. p. 2:{7, 23». Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 225 explain, but contented themselves with saying they were in the law, and that they called them declarative attributes ^ However, at length, by giving various explications and interpretations of these attributes, they divided into many different opinions : some, by taking the words in the literal sense, fell into the notion of a likeness or similitude between God and created beings ; to which it is said the Karaites among the Jews, who are for the literal interpretation of Moses's law, had shown them the way": others explained them in another manner, saying that no creature was like God, but that they neither under- stood, nor thought it necessary to explain the precise signification of the words which seem to affirm the same of both ; it being sufficient to believe that God hath no companion or similitude. Of this opinion was Malec Ebn Ans, who declared as to the expres- sion of God's sitting on his throne, in particular, that though the meaning is known, yet the manner is unknown ; and that it is necessary to believe it, but heresy to make any questions about it'. The sects of the Sefatians are, 1. The Asharians, the followers of Abu'l Hasan al Ashari, who was first a Motazalite, and the scholar of Abu Ali al Jobbai, but disagreeing from his master in opinion as to God's being bound (as the Motazalites assert) to do always that which is best or most expedient, left him, and set up a new sect of himself. The occasion of this diffi^rence was the putting a case concerning three brothers, the first of whom lived in obedience to God, the second in rebellion against him, and the third died an infant. Al Jobbai being asked what he thought would become of them, answered, that the first would be rewarded in paradise, the second punished in hell, and the third neither rewarded nor punished : but what. ' Al Shahrest. apud Poc. Spec. p. 223- * V. Foe. ib. p. 224. ' V. eund. ib. VOL. I. Q 226 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. objected al Asluiri, if the third say, O Lord, if thou hadst given me longer life, that I might have entered paradise with my believing brother, it would have been better for me ; to which al Jobbai replied, that God would answer, I knew that if thou hadst lived longer, thou wouldst have been a wicked person, and therefore cast into hell. Then, retorted al Ashari, the second will say, O Lord, why didst thou not take me away while I was an infant, as thou didst my brother, that 1 might not have deserved to be punished for my sins, nor be cast into hell? To which al Jobbai could return no other answer, than that God prolonged his life to give him an oppor- tunity of obtaining the highest degree of perfection, which was best for him : but al Ashari demanding farther, why he did not for the same reason grant the other a longer life to whom it would have been equally advantageous ; al Jobbai was so put to it, that he asked whether the devil possessed him ? No, says al Ashari, bu.t the master's ass will not pass the bridge ' ; i. e. he is posed. The opinions of the Asharians were, 1. That they allowed the attributes of God to be distinct from his essence, yet so as to forbid any comparison to be made between God and his creatures'. This was also the opinion of Ahmed Ebn Haubal, and David al Ispahani, and others, who herein followed IMalec Ebn Ans, and were so cautious of any assimilation of God to created beings, that they declared whoever moved his hand while he read these words, I have created with my hand, or stretched forth his finger, in repeating this saying of Mohammed, The heart of the believer is between two fingers of the Merciful, ought to have his hand and finger cut off'; and the reasons they gave for not explaining any such words were, that it is forbidden in the Koran, and that ' Auctor al IMawalaf, et al Safadi, apud Poc. ubi sup. p. 2;i0, &c Ebn Khalec. in Vita al .Tobbui. ■' Al Shahrest. apiul I'oc. Spec. p. 2'M). ^ Idem, apud eiind. p. 22t!, ^:l•. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 227 such explications were necessarily founded on con- jecture and opinion, from which no man ought to speak of the attributes of God, because the words of the Koran might by that means come to be understood differently from the author's meaning: nay some have been so superstitiously scrupulous in this matter as not to allow the words hand, face, and the like, when they occur in the Koran, to be ren- dered into Persian or any other language, but require them to be read in the very original words, and this they call the safe way '. 2. As to predestination, they held that God hath one eternal will, which is applied to whatsoever he willeth, both of his own actions and those of men, so far as they are created by him, but not as they are acquired or gained by them ; that he willeth both their good and their evil, their profit and their hurt, and as he willeth and knoweth, he willeth concerning men that which he knoweth, and hath commanded the pen to write the same in the preserved Table : and this is his decree, and eternal immutable counsel and purpose-. They also went so far as to say, that it may be agreeable to the way of God that man should be commanded what he is not able to perform". But while they allow man some power, they seem to restrain it to such a power as cannot produce any thing new; only God, say they, so orders his providence, that he creates, after, or under, and together with every created or new power, an action which is ready whenever a man wills it, and sets about it : and this action is called Cash, i. e. Acquisition, being in respect to its creation, from God, but in respect to its being produced, employed, and acquired, from man \ And this being generally esteemed the or- thodox opinion, it may not be improper farther to explain the same in the words of some other ' V. Poc. ib. - Al Shahrest. apud eund. p. 245, &c 3 Idem, ib. p. 24(5. " Al Shahrest. apud Poc. p. 245, &c. Q 2 228 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. writers. Tlic electiv^e actions of men, says one, fall under the poAver of God alone ; nor is their own power effectual thereto : but God causeth to exist in man power and choice ; and if there be no im- pediment, he causeth his action to exist also, subject to his power, and joined with that and his choice ; which action, as created, is to be ascribed to God, but as produced, employed, or acquired, to man. So that by the acquisition of an action is properly meant a man's joining or connecting the same with his power and will, yet allowing herein no impression or influ- ence on the existence thereof, save only that it is subject to his powers Others, however, \vho are also on the side of al Ashari, and reputed orthodox, ex- plain the matter in a different manner, and grant the impression or influence of the created power of man on his action, and that this power is what is called Acquisition -. But the point will be still clearer, if we hear a third author, a\ ho rehearses the various opinions, or explications of the opinion of this sect, in the following words, viz. Abu'l Hasan al Ashari asserts all the actions of men to be subject to the power of God, being created by him, and that the power of man hath no influence at all on that which he is empowered to do ; but that both the power, and what is subject thereto, fall under the power of God : al Kadi Abu Beer says that the essence or substance of the action is the effect of the power of God, but its being either an action of obedience, as prayer, or an action of disobedience, as fornication, are qualities of the action, which proceed from the power of man : Abd'almalec, known by the title of Imam al Haramein, Abu'l Hosein of Basra, and other learned men, held that the actions of men are effected by the power which God hath created in man, and that God causeth to exist in man both ' Aurtor Sliarh al Mawakef, apud eund. p. 247- " Al Shahrest. ib. p. 248. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 229 power and M'ill, and that this power and will do necessarily produce that which man is empowered to do : and Abu Ishak al Isfarayeni taught, that that which maketh impression, or hath influence on an action, is a compound of the power of God and the power of mani. The same author observes, that their ancestors, perceiving a manifest difference be- tween those things which are the effects of the elec- tion of man, and those things which are the necessary effects of inanimate agents, destitute both of know- ledge and choice, and being at the same time pressed by the arguments which prove that God is the Creator of all things, and consequently of those things which are done by men, to conciliate the matter, chose the middle way, asserting actions to proceed from the power of God, and the acquisition of man ; God's way of dealing with his servants being, that when man intendeth obedience, God createth in him an action of obedience, and when he intendeth disobedience, he createth in him an action of disobe- dience ; so that man seemeth to be the effective pro- ducer of his action, though he really be not'\ But this, proceeds the same writer, is again pressed with its difficulties, because the very intention of the mind is the work of God, so that no man hath any share in the production of his own actions ; for which reason the ancients disapproved of too nice an inquiry into this point, the end of the dispute concerning the same being, for the most part, either the taking away of all precepts positive as well as negative, or else the associating of a companion with God, by introducing some other independent agent besides him. Those, therefore, who would speak more accurately, use this form : There is neither compulsion nor free liberty, but the way lies between the two ; the power and will in man being both created by God, though the merit ' Auctor Sharh ;il Tawalca. apiid cund. ib. p. 248, &c. ^ Idem, ib. p. 241), 250. 230 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. or guilt be imputed unto man. Yet, after all, it is judged the safest way to follow the steps of the pri- mitive Moslems, and, avoiding subtle disputations and too curious inquiries, to leave the knowledge of this matter wholly unto God'. 3. As to mortal ' Idem, ib. p. 250, 251. I trust the reader will not be offended if, as a farther illustration of what has been said on this subject (in producing of whicli I have purposely kept to the original I\Ioliammcdan expressions) I transcribe a passage or two from a postscript subjoined to the epistle I have quoted above (§ iv. p. 149.) in which the point of free-will is treated c.r professo. Therein the Moorish author, having mentioned the two opposite opinions of the Kadiirians, who allow free-will, and the Jabarians, who make man a necessary agent (the former of wliich opinions, he says, seems to apjjroach nearest to that of the greater part of Christians, and of the Jews) declares the true opinion to be that of the Sonnites, who assert that man hath power and will to choose good and evil, and can moreover know he shall be rewarded if he do well, and shall be punished if he do ill ; but that he depends notv/ithstanding on God's power, and willeth, if God wilhth, but not otherwise. Then he proceeds briefly to refute the two extreme opinions, and first to prove tliat of the Kadariar.s, though it be agreeable to (iod's justice, inconsistent with his attributes of wisdom and power : " Sapientia enini Dei," says he, " comprehendit quicquid fuit et futurum est ab aeternitate in finem usque mundi et postea. Et ita novit ab feterno omnia opera creaturarum, sive bona, sive mala, qua; fuerint creata cum potcntia Dei, et ejus libera et determinata voluntate, sicut ipsi visum fuit. Denique novit eum qui futurus erat malus, ettamen crcavit eum, et similiter bonum, quern etiani creavit : neque negari potest quin, si ipsi libuissct, potuisset omnes creare bonos: placuit tamen Deo creare bonos et malos, cum Deo soli sit abioluta et libera voluntas, et perfects electio, et non homini. Itaenim Salomon in suisproverbiis dixit, Vitam et mortem, bonum et malum, divitias et paupertatem, esse et venire a Deo. Christian! etiam dicunt S. Paulum dixisse in suis epistolis ; Dicet etiam lutum figulo, quare facis unum vas ad honorem, et aliud vas ad contumrliam ? Cum igitur miser homo fuerit creatus a voluntate Dei et potentia, nihil aliud potest tribui ipsi quam ipse sensus cognoscendi et sentiendi an bene vel male faciat. Qua; unica causa (id est, sensus cognoscendi) crit ejus glori.T? vel pcenic causa : per talem enim sensum novit quid boni vel mali adversus Dei pracepta fecerit. The opinion of tlie Jabarians, on the other hand, he rejects as contrary to man's consciousness of his own power and choice, and inconsistent witli God's justice, and his having given mankind laws, to the observiiig or transgressing of which he has annexed rewards and punishments. After this he proceeds to explain the third opinion in the following words: " Tertia opinio Zunis ('. c. Sonnitarum), qua; vera est, affirmat homini potestatem esse, sed lin.itatam a sua causa, id est, dependentem a Dei potentia et voluntate, et propter illam cognitionem qua deli- berat bene vel male facere, essedignum poena vel pramiio. Manifestum est in aster- nitate non fuissealiam potentiam pra;ter Dei nostri omnipotentis, e cujus potentia pendebant omnia possibUia, id est, qiuepoterant esse, cum ab i])so fuerint creata. Sapientia vero Dei novit etiam qu;c non sunt futura; et potcntia ejus, etsi non creaverit ca, potuit tamen, si ita Deo placuissct. Ita novit sapientia Dei qu;e erant impossibilia, id est, qure non poterant esse ; qu;c tamen nullo pacto pendent ab ejus potentia : ab ejus enim potentia nulla pendent nisi possibUia. — Dicinuis enim a Dei potentia non pendere creare Deum alium ipsi siniilem, nee creare ali- quid quod movcatur et quiescat simul eodcm tempore, ciim hxc sint ex impossi- bilibus : comjirehendit tamen sua sapientia tale aliquid non pendere ab ejus po- tentia.— A potentia igitur Dei pendet solum quod jwtest esse, etpossibile est esse; qua; semper j)arala est dare esse possibilibus. Et si hoc penitus cognoscamus, cognosccmus parilu: (uuiic quod est, sen fuluiuni est. sive sint opera nostra, sive Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 231 sin the Asliarians taught, that if a believer guilty of such sin die without repentance, his sentence is to be left to God, whether he pardon him out of his mercy, or whether the prophet intercede for him, (according to that saying recorded of him, " My in- tercession shall be employed for those among my people who shall have been guilty of grievous crimes,") or whether he punish him in proportion to his demerit, and afterwards, through his mercy, admit him into paradise : but that it is not to be sup- posed he will remain for ever in hell with the in- fidels, seeing it is declared that whoever shall have faith in his heart but of the weight of an ant shall be delivered from hell-fire ^ And this is generally received for the orthodox doctrine in this point, and is diametrically opposite to that of the Motazalites. These were the more rational Sefatians, but the ignorant part of them, not knowing how otherwise to explain the expressions of the Koran relating to the declarative attributes, fell into most gross and quidvis aliud, pendere a sola potentia Dei. Et hoc non privatim intelligitur, seu in genere de omni eo quod est et movetur, sive in ca?lis sive in terra ; et nee ali- qua potentia potest impediri Dei potentia, cum nulla alia potentia absoluta sit, prsDter Dei ; potentia vero nostra non est a se, nisi a Dei potentia : et cum po- tentia nostra dicitur esse a causa sua, ideo dicimus potentiam nostram esse stra- minis comparatam cum potentia Dei : eo enim modo quo stramen movetur a motu maris, ita nostra potentia et voluntas a Dei potentia. Itaque Dei potentia semper est parata etiam ad cccidendum aliquem ; ut si quis hominem occidat, non dicimus potentia hominis id factum, sed asterna potentia Dei : error enim est id tribuere potentiae hominis. Potentia er.im Dei, cum semper sit parata, et ante ipsum hominem, ad occidendum ; si sola hominis potentia id factum esse dicere- mus, et moreretur, potentia sane Dei (qua; ante erat) jam ibi esset frustra ; quia post mortem non potest potentia Dei eum iterum occidere ; ex quo sequeretur potentiam Dei impediri a potentia hominis, et potentiam hominis anteire et ante- cellere potentiam Dei ; quod est absurdum et impossibile. Igitur Deus est qui operatur Eetema sua potentia,: si vero homini injiciatur culpa, sive in tali homi- cidio, sive in aliis, hoc est quantum ad prsecepta et legem. Homini tribuitur solum opus externe, et ejus electio, quje est a voluntate ejus et potentia ; non vero interne. — Hoc est punctum illud indivisibile et secretum, quod a paucissimis capitur, ut sapientissimus Sidi Abo Hamet Elgaceli (i. c. Dominus Abu Hamed al Ghazali) affirmat (cujus spiritui Deus concedat gloriam, Amen !) sequentibus verbis : Ita abditum et profundum et abstrusum est intelligere punctum illud Liberi Arbitrii, ut neque characteres ad scribendum, neque uUas rationes ad ex- priniendum sufFiciant, et omnes, quotquot de hac re locuti sunt, heeserunt coni'usi in ripa tanti et tam spaciosi maris. ' Al Shahrest. apud Poc Spec. p. 2o8. 232 THE PUELIMlNAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. absurd opinions, making God corporeal, and like created beings '. Such were, 2. The Moshabbehites, or assiniilators ; who al- lowed a resemblance between God and his creatures*, supposing him to be a figure composed of members or parts, either spiritual or corporeal, and capable of local motion, of ascent and descent, &c.^ Some of this sect inclined to the opinion of the Hoi Lilians, who believed that the divine nature might be united with the human in the same person ; for they granted it possible that God might appear in a human form, as Gabriel did : and to confirm their opinion they allege Mohammed's words, that he saw his Lord in a most beautiful form, and Moses talking with God face to face '. And 3. The Keramians, or followers of JMohammed Ebn Keram, called also IMojassemians, or Corpo- ralists ; who not only admitted a resemblance be- tween God and created beings, but declared God to be corporeal \ The more sober among them, in- deed, when they applied the word body to God, would be understood to mean that he is a self-sub- sisting being, which with them is the definition of body : but yet some of them aflSrmed him to be finite, and circumscribed either on all sides, or on some only (as beneath, for exami)le), according to different opinions ' ; and others allowed that he might be felt by the hand, and seen by the eye. Nay, one David al Jawari went so far as to say, that his deity was a body composed of flesh and blood, and that he had members, as hands, feet, a head, a tongue, eyes, and ears ; but that he was a body, however, not like other bodies, neither was he like to any created being: he is also said farther to have af- firmed that from the crown of the head to the breast ' V. I'oc. ib. p. 'ioj, iS.c. Abiilfar. p. 1()'7, ^c. - Al IVIawakcf, apiid Pof. ib. 3 Al Shahrcst. apiid cunil. ih p. T2(i. < V. Mar- race. I'roclr. part iii. p. 11). .i Al Sliahrcbl ubi bupra. •> Idtm. ib. p. 225. Sect. 8.] THE niELIMlNAllY DISCOURSE. 238 he was hollow, and from the breast downward soHd, and that he had black curled hair ^ These most blasphemous and monstrous notions were the conse- quence of the literal acceptation of those passages in the Koran which figuratively attribute corporeal ac- tions to God, and of the words of Mohammed, when he said, that God created man in his own image, and that himself had felt the fingers of God, which he laid on his back, to be cold : besides which, this sect are charged with fathering on their prophet a great number of spurious and forged traditions to support their opinion, the greater part whereof they borrowed from the Jews, who are accused as na- turally prone to assimilate God to men, so that they describe him as weeping for Noah's flood till his eyes were sore -. And indeed, though we grant the Jews may have imposed on Mohammed and his fol- lowers in many instances, and told them as solemn truths things which themselves believed not or had invented, yet many expressions of this kind are to be found in their writings ; as when they introduce God roaring like a lion at every watch of the night, and crying, " Alas ! that I have laid waste my house, and suffered my temple to be burnt, and sent my children into banishment among the heathen," &c. ^ 4. The Jabarians ; who are the direct opponents of the Kadarians, denying free agency in man, and ascribing his actions wholly unto God *. They take their denomination from al Jabr, which signifies necessity or compulsion ; because they hold man to be necessarily and inevitably constrained to act as he does, by force of God's eternal and immutable de- cree \ This sect is distinguished into several spe- cies ; some being more rigid and extreme in their opinion, who are thence called pure Jabarians, and others more moderate, who are therefore called middle ' Idem, ib. p. 22fi, 227. " Idem, ib. p. 227, 228. ^ Talni. Berachotli, c. 1. V. Poc. ubi supra, p. 22}{. 4 V. Abult'arag. p. lb'8. 5 Al Shahiest. al ]\lawakef, et Ebn al Kobta, apud Poc. ib. p. 238, &c. 234 THE PRELIMINAllY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. Jabarians. The former will not allow men to be said either to act, or to have any power at all, either operative or acquiring ; asserting that man can do nothing, but produces all his actions by necessity, having neither power, nor will, nor choice, any more than an inanimate agent : they also declare that re- warding and punishing are also the effects of ne- cessity ; and the same they say of the imposing of commands. This was the doctrine of the Jahmians, the followers of Jahm Ebn Safwan, who likewise held that paradise and hell will vanish, or be annihilated, after those who are destined thereto respectively shall have entered them, so that at last there will remain no existing being besides God ^ ; supposing those words of the Koran, which declare that the inha- bitants of paradise and of hell shall remain therein for ever, to be hyperbolical only, and intended for corroboration, and not to denote an eternal duration in reality -. The moderate Jabarians are they who ascribe some power to man, but such a power as hath no influence on the action : for as to those who grant the power of man to have a certain influence on the action, which influence is called Acquisition, some "' will not admit them to be called Jabarians ; though others reckon those also to be called middle Jaba- rians, and to contend for the middle opinion bet\^'een absolute necessity and absolute liberty, who attribute to man acquisition, or concurrence, in producing the action, whereby he gaineth connnendation or blame, (yet without admitting it to have any influence on the action), and therefore make the Asharians a branch of this sect \ Having again mentioned the term Acquisition, we may perhaps have a clearer idea of what the Mohammedans mean thereby, when told, that it is defined to be an action directed to the obtaining of profit, or the removing of hurt, and for ' Al Shahrest. jj r»Iotareizi, et Ebn al Koss-u. apud eund. p. 23!), 21'i, &c. ^ Idem, ib. p. 260. 3 Al Shahrest. ■* Ebn ;d Kossa, et al Mawakcf. Sect. 8.] THE PIIELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 235 that reason never applied to any action of God, who acquireth to himself neither profit nor hurt K Of the middle or moderate Jabarians, were the Naja- rians, and the Derarians. The Najarians were the adherents of Al Hasan Ebn Mohammed al Najar, who taught that God was he who created the actions of men, both good and bad, and that man acquired them, and also that man's power had an influence on the action, or a certain co-operation, which he called acquisition; and herein he agreed with al Ashari'. The Derarians v^ere the disciples of Derar Ebn Amru, who held also that men's actions are really created by God, and that man really ac- quired them'. The Jabarians also say, that God is absolute Lord of his creatures, and may deal with them according to his own pleasure, without render- ing account to any, and that if he should admit all men without distinction into paradise, it would be no impartiality, or if he should cast them all into hell it would be no injustice *. And in this particular likewise they agree with the Asharians, who assert the same', and say that reward is a favour from God, and punishment a piece of justice ; obedience being by them considered as a sign only of future reward, and transgression as a sign of future punish- ment \ ■ Ebn al Kos^a, apud Poc. ubi sup. p. 240. ^ Al Shahrest. apud eund p. 245. 3 Idem, ib. 4 Abulfarag, p. 168, &c. 5 Al Shahrestani, ubi sup. p. 252, &c. 6 Sharh al Tawalea, ib. To tne same effect writes the Moorish author quoted above, from whom I will venture to transcribe tlie following passage, with which he concludes his discourse on Free- will. " Intellectus fere lumine naturali novit Deum esse rectum judicem et jus- tuni, qui non aliter afficit creaturam quam juste: etiam Deum esse absolutum Dominum, et banc orbis machinam esse ejus, et ab eo creatam ; Deum nulhs debere rationem reddere, cum quicquid agat, agat jure projirio sibi : et ita abso- lute poterit afficere prsemio vel poena quern vult, cum omnis creatura sit ejus, r.ec facit cuiquam injunam, etsi earn tormentis et poenis aternis afficiat : plus enim boni et commodi accepit creatura quando accepit esse a suo creatore, quam in- commodi et damni quando ab eo damnata est et affecta tormentis ct prenis. Hoc autem intelligitur si Deus absolute id facerct. Quando enim Deus, pietate et misericordia motus, eligit aliquos ut ipsi serviant, Dcminus Deus gratia suA id facit ex infinita bonitate ; et quando aliquos derelinquit, et poenis et tormentis af- ficit, ex justitia et rectitudine. Et tandem dicimas omnes pcenas esse justas qua a Deo veniunt, et nostra tantuui culpa, et omnia bona esse a pietate et misericor- dia ejus infinita." 236 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. 5. The Morgiaiis; who are said to be derived from the Jabarians \ These teach that the judg- ment of every true believer, who hath been guilty of a grievous sin, will be deferred till the resurrection ; for which reason they j)ass no sentence on him in this world, either of absolution or condemnation. They also hold that disobedience with faith hurteth not; and that, on the other hand, obedience with infidelity profiteth not '. As to the reason of their name the learned differ, because of the different sig- nifications of its root, each of Mhich they acconnno- date to some opinion of the sect. Some think them so called because they postpone works to intention, that is, esteem works to be inferior in degree to in- tention and profession of the faith ; others, because they allow hope, by asserting that disobedience with faith hurteth not, &c. ; others take the reason of the name to be, their deferring the sentence of the heinous sinner till the resurrection^; and others, their degrading of Ali, or i-emoving him from the first degree to the fourth ' : for the iMorgians, in some points relating to the office of Imam, agree with the Kharejites. This sect is divided into four species : three of M'hich, according as they haj)pen to agree in particular dogmas with the Kharejites, the Kadarians, or the Jabarians, are distinguished as Morgians of those sects, and the fourth is that of the pure Morgians ; which last species is again sub- divided into five others ". The opinions of IMokatel and Bashar, both of a sect of the Morgians called Thaubanians, should not be omitted. The former asserted that disobt'dience hurts not him who })ro- fesses the unity of God, and is endued with faith ; and that no true believer shall be cast into hell : he also taught that God will surely forgi\e all crimes besides infidelity ; and that a disobedient believer ' Al Sluhrcst. ubi sup. p. tTih". ' iVbult'ar. p. lOf). s Al Firuuz. 4 i^bii al Atliir, Al Motarruzi. s Al i;lla!lrt•^l. ubi sup. p. 254, &c. ^ Idem, ibid. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 237 will be punished, at the day of resurrection, on the bridge ' laid over the midst of hell, where the flames of hell-fire shall catch hold on him, and torment him in proportion to his disobedience, and that he shall then be admitted into paradise '^. The latter held, that if God do cast the believers guilty of grievous sins into hell, yet they will be delivered thence after they shall have been sufficiently punished ; but that it is neither possible nor consistent with justice, that they should remain therein for ever : which, as has been observed, was the opinion of al Ashari. III. The Kharejites are they who depart or revolt from the lawful prince established by public consent ; and thence comes their name, which signifies revolters or rebels \ The first who were so called were twelve thousand men who revolted from Ali, after they had fought under him at the battle of Seffein, taking offence at his submitting the decision of his right to the Khalifat, which Moawiyah disputed with him, to arbitration, though they themselves had first obliged him to it \ These were also called Mohakkemites, or Judiciarians; because the reason which they gave for their revolt was, that Ali had referred a matter con- cerning the religion of God to the judgment of men, whereas the judgment, in such case, belonged only unto God\ The heresy of the Kharejites consisted chiefly in two things. 1. In that they affirmed a man might be promoted to the dignity of Imam, or prince, though he was not of the tribe of Koreish, nor even a freeman, provided he was a just and pious person, and endued with the other requisite qualifications ; and also held, that if the Imam turned aside from the truth, he might be put to death or deposed ; and that there was no absolute necessity for any Imam at all in the world. 2. In that they charged Ali with sin, for having left an affair to the judgment of men, ' See before, § IV. p. 125. « Al Shahrest. ubi supra, p. 257. 3 Idem, ib. p 269. * See Ockley's Hist, of tlie Sarac. V. I. p. CO &c. s Al fcihahrest. ubi sup. p. 270. 238 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. which ought to have been deteriMined by God alone ; and went so far as to declare him guilty of infidelity, and to curse him on that account ^ In the ci8th year of the Hejra, which was the year following the revolt, all these Khiirejites who persisted in their rebellion, to the number of foiu- thousand, were cut to pieces by Ali, and as several historians- write, even to a man : but others say nine of them escaped, and that two fled into Oman, two into Kerman, two into Sejestan, two into Mesopotamia, and one to Tel Mawriin ; and that these propagated their heresy in those places, the same remaining there to this day'. The principal sects of the Kharejites, besides the Mohakkemites above mentioned, are six ; which, though they greatly differ among themselves in other matters, yet agree in these, viz. that they absolutely reject Othmaii and Ali, preferring the doing of this to the greatest obedience, and allowing marriages to be contracted on no other terms ; that they account those who are guilty of grievous sins to be infidels ; and that they hold it necessary to resist the Imam when he transgresses the law. One sect of them de- serves more particular notice, viz. The Waidians ; so called from al Waid, which signifies the threats denounced by God against the wicked. These are the antagonists of the Morgians, and assert that he who is guilty of a grievous sin ought to be declared an infidel or apostate, and will be eternally punished in hell, though he were a true believer^: which opinion of theirs, as has been ob- served, occasioned the first rise of the Motazalites. One Jaafar Ebn Mobashshar, of the sect of the Nodhamians, was yet more severe than the Waidians, pronouncing him to be a reprobate and an apostate who steals but a grain of corn \ IV. The Shiites are the opponents of the Kha- > Idem, ib. • Abu'lfeda, al Jannabi, Elmadnus, p. 40. ' A 1 Shahrestani. Sec Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens, ubi sup. p. 63. « Abult'ar. J). !(!!>. AlShahrest. aputl Poc. Spec. p. 250. s \'. Poc. ib. p. 257. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, 239 rejites : their name properly signifies sectaries or adherents in general, but is peculiarly used to denote those of Ali Ebn Abi Taleb ; who maintain him to be lawful Khalif and Imam, and that the supreme authority, both in spirituals and temporals, of right belongs to his descendants, notwithstanding they may be deprived of it by the injustice of others, or their own fear. They also teach, that the office of Imam is not a common thing, depending on the will of the vulgar, so that they may set up v/hom they please ; but a fundamental affair of religion, and an article which the prophet could not have neglected, or left to the fancy of the common people ^ : nay some, thence called ImamianSj go so far as to assert, that religion consists solely in the knowledge of the true Imam". The principal sects of the Shiites are five, which are subdivided into an alm.ost innumerable number ; so that some understand Mohammed's pro- phecy of the seventy odd sects, of the Shiites only. Their general opinions are, 1. That the peculiar de- signation of the Imam, and the testimonies of the Koran and Mohammed concerning him, are necessary points. 2. That the Imams ought necessarily to keep themselves free from light sins as well as more grievous. 3. That every one ought publicly to de- clare who it is that he adheres to, and from whom he separates himself, by word, deed, and engagement ; and that herein there should be no dissimulation. But in this last point some of the Zeidians, a sect so named from Zeid, the son of Ali, surnamed Zein al abedin, and great grandson of Ali, dissented from the rest of the Shiites^. As to other articles, wherein they agreed not, some of them came pretty near to the notions of the Motazalites, others to those of the Moshabbehites, and others to those of the Sonnites^. Among the latter of these, Mohammed al Baker, an- • Al Shahrest, ib. p. 2G1. Abulfar. p. 169. ^ Al Shahrest. ib. p. 2 3 Idem, ib. V. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Schiah. 4 V. Poc. ib. 240 THE PREI.IMIXAUY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. otlier son of Zoiii al a])ediirs, seems to claim a place: for his opinion as to the will of God was, that God willeth somethin*^ in us, and something from us, and that what he willeth from us he hath revealed to us ; for which reason he thought it preposterous that w^e should employ our thoughts ahout those things which God willeth in us, and neglect those which he willeth from us : and as to God's decree, he held that the way lay in the middle, and that there was neither compulsion nor free liberty'. A tenet of the Khat- tiibians, or disciples of one Abu'l Khattib, is too peculiar to be omitted. These maintained paradise to be no other than the pleasures of this world, and hell-fire to be the pains thereof, and that the world will never decay : which proposition being first laid down, it is no w^onder they w'ent farther, and declared it lawful to indulge themselves in drinking wine and whoring, and to do other things forbidden by the law, and also to omit doing the things com- manded by the law*. Many of the Shiites carried their veneration for Ali and his descendants so far, that they transgressed all bounds of reason and decency ; though some of them were less extravagant than others. The Gho- laites, who had their name from their excessive zeal for their Imams, were so highly transported there- with, that they raised them above the degree of created beings, and attributed divine properties to them ; transgressing on either hand, by deifying of mortal men, and by making God corporeal : for one while they liken one of their Imams to God, and another while they liken God to a creatui'e''. The sects of these are various, and have various appella- tions in different countries. Abd'allah Ebn Saba (who had been a Jew, and had asserted the same thing of Joshua the son of Nun) was the ringleader ' Al Shahrest. ib. ji. 2vhence he was also called, in the Persian tongue, Sazendeh mah, or the moon-maker. This impious impostor, not content with being reputed a prophet, arrogated divine honours to himself, pretending that the deity re- sided in his person : and the doctrine whereon he built this was the same with that of the Gholaites above mentioned, who affirmed a transmigration or successive manifestation of the divinity through and in certain prophets and holy men, from Adam to these latter days (of which opinion was also Abu Moslem himself?); but the particular doctrine of al Mokanna was, that the person in whom the deity ' Or Ebn Ata, according to Ebn Shohnah. "> This explains a doubt of I\fr. Baylc concerning a passage of Elmncinuf, as traiislafed by Erpenius, »nd corrected by Btspicr. V. Baylc, Diet. Hibt. Art. Abumuslirauo, vers la m, ct Rem. B. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 249 had last resided was the aforesaid Abu Moslem, and that the same had, since his death, passed into him- self. The faction of al Mokanna, who had made himself master of several fortified places in the neighbourhood of the cities above mentioned, grow- ing daily more and more powerful, the Khalif was at length obliged to send an army to reduce him ; at the approach whereof al Mokanna retired into one of his strongest fortresses, which he had well pro- vided for a siege, and sent his emissaries abroad to persuade people that he raised the dead to life, and knew future events. But being straitly besieged by the Khalif 's forces, when he found there was no possibility for him to escape, he gave poison in wine to his whole family and all that were with him in the castle, and when they were dead he burnt their bodies, together with their clothes and all the pro- visions, and cattle ; and then, to prevent his own body's being found, he threw himself into the flames, or, as others say, into a tub of aqua fortis, or some other preparation, which consumed every part of him, except only his hair ; so that when the besiegers entered the place they found no creature in it, save one of al Mokanna's concubines, who, sus- pecting his design, had hid herself, and discovered the whole matter. This contrivance, however, failed not to produce the effect which the impostor de- signed among the remaining part of his followers ; for he had promised them that his soul should trans- migrate into the form of a grey-headed man, riding on a greyish beast, and that after so many years, he would return to them, and give them the earth for their possession : the expectation of which promise kept the sect in being for several ages after \ under the name of Mobeyyidites, or, as the Persians call ' They were a sect in the days of Abu'lfaragius, who lived about five hun- dred years aftsr this extraordinary event ; and niav, for aught I know, be so itill. 250 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. them, Sefid juinehghian, /. e. the clothed in white, because they wore their garments of that colour, in opposition, as is supposed, to the Khalifs of the fa- mily of Abbas, whose banners and habits were black. The historians place the death of al Mokanna in the l62d or I63d year of the Hejra \ In the year of the Hejra ^01, Babec, surnamed al Khorremi, and Khorremdin, either because he was of a certain district near Adherbijan, called Khor- rem, or because he instituted a merry religion, which is the signification of the word in Persian, began to tal<:e on him the title of a prophet. I do not find what doctrine he taught ; but it is said he professed none of the religions then known in Asia. He gained a great number of devotees in Adherbijan and the Persian Irak, and grew powerful enough to wage war with the Khalif al Mamiin, whose troops he often beat, killing several of his generals, and one of them with his own hand ; and Ijy these victories he became so formidable that al Motasem, the successor of al Mamum, was obliged to employ the forces of the whole empire against him. The general sent to reduce Babec was Afshid, who having overthrown liim in battle, took his castles one after another with invincible patience, notwithstanding the rebels gave him great annoyance, and at last shut up the im- postor in his principal fortress ; which being taken, Babec found means to escape thence in disguise, with some of his family and principal followers ; but taking refuge in the territories of the Greeks, was betrayed in the following manner. Sahel, an Armenian officer, happening to know Babec, enticed him, by offers of service and respect, into his power, and treated him as a mighty j)rince, till, when he sat down to eat, Sahel clapt himself down by him ; ' Ex Abu'lfarag. Hist. Dyn. p. 226. Lobb al Tawarikh, Ebn Shohnali, al Tabari, ct Khondauiir. V. D'Hcrbcl. Bibl. Orient. Art. llakcm Ben Ilas- chem. Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 251 at which Babec being surprised, asked him how he dared to take that liberty unasked ? " It is true, great king," replied Sahel, " I have committed a fault ; for who am I, that I should sit at your ma- jesty's table ?" And immediately sending for a smith, he made use of this bitter sarcasm, " Stretch forth your legs, great king, that this man may put fetters on them," After this Sahel sent him to Afshid, though he had offered a large sum for his liberty, having first served him in his own kind, by causing his mother, sister, and wife, to be ravished before his face ; for so Babec used to treat his prisoners. Afs- hid, having the arch-rebel in his power, conducted him to al Motasem, by whose order he was put to an ignominious and cruel death. This man had maintained his ground against the power of the Khalifs for twenty years, and had cruelly put to death above two hundred and fifty thousand people ; it being his custom never to spare man, woman or child, either of the Mohammedans or their allies \ The sectaries of Babec which remained after his death seem to have been entirely dispersed, there being little or no mention made of them by histo- rians. About the year 235, one Mahmiid Ebn Faraj pretended to be Moses resuscitated, and played his part so well that several people believed in him, and attended him when he was brought before the Khalif al Motawakkel. That prince, having been an ear- witness of his extravagant discourses, condemned him to receive ten buffets from every one of his fol- lowers, and then to be drubbed to death ; which was accordingly executed ; and his disciples were impri- soned till they came to their right minds *. The Karmatians, a sect which bore an inveterate • Ex Abulfarag. p. 252, &c. Elmacin. p. 141, &c. and Khondaniir. V. U'Hcrbcl. Art. Babec. " Ebn Shohnah. V. D'llcrbel. p. 537. 252 THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. [Sect. 8. malice against the Mohammedans, began first to raise distiu'bances in the year of the Hejra 278, and the latter end of the reign of al Motamed. Their origin is not well known ; but the common tradition is, that a poor fellow, whom some call Karmata, came from Khuzistan to the villages near Cufa, and there feigned great sanctity and strictness of life, and that God had enjoined him to pray fifty times a day, pre- tending also to invite people to the obedience of a certain Imam of the family of Mohammed : and this way of life he continued till he had made a very great party, out of whom he chose twelve, as his apostles, to govern the rest, and to propagate liis doctrines. But the governor of the province, finding men neglected their work, and their husbandry in particular, to say those fifty prayers a day, seized the fellow, and having put him in prison, swore that he should die ; w^hich being overheard by a girl be- longing to the governor, she, pitying the man, at night took the key of the dungeon from under her master's head as he slept, and having let the prisoner out, returned the key to the place whence she had it. The next morning the governor found the bird flown ; and the accident being publicly know^n raised great admiration, his adherents giving it out that God had taken him into heaven. Afterwards he ap- peared in another province, and declared to a great number of people he had got about him, that it was not in the power of any to do him hurt ; notwith- standing which, his courage failing him, he retired into Syria, and was not heard of any more. His sect, however, continued and increased, pretending that their master had manifested himself to be a true prophet, and had left them a new law% -wherein he had changed the ceremonies and form of prayer used by the Moslems, and introduced a new kind of fast ; and that he had also allowed them to drink wine, and dispensed with several things commanded in the Koran. They also turned the precepts of that book Sect. 8.] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 253 into allegory ; teaching that prayer was the symbol of obedience to their Imam, and fasting that of si- lence, or concealing their dogmas from strangers : they also believed fornication to be the sin of in- fidelity ; and the guilt thereof to be incurred by those who revealed the mysteries of their religion, or paid not a blind obedience to their chief. They are said to have produced a book, wherein was written (among other things), " In the name of the most merciful God. Al Faraj Ebn Othman, of the town of Nasrana, saith, that Christ appeared unto him in a human form, and said, Thou art the invitation : thou art the demonstration: thou art the camel: thou art the beast : thou art John the son of Zacharias : thou art the Holy Ghosts" From the year above mentioned the Karmatians, under several leaders, gave almost continual disturbance to the Khalifs and their Mo- hammedan subjects for several years ; committing great disorders and outrages in Chaldea, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia, and at length establishing a considerable principality, the power whereof was in its meridian in the reign of Abu Dhaher, famous for his taking of Mecca, and the indignities by him offered to the temple there, but which declined soon after his time, and came to nothing'. To the Karmatians the Ismaelians of Asia were very near of kin, if they were not a branch of them : for these, who were also called al Molahedah, or the Impious, and by the writers of the history of the holy wars, Assassins, agreed with the former in many respects; such as their inveterate malice against those of other religions, and especially the Moham- medan ; their unlimited obedience to their prince, at whose command they were ready for assassinations, or any other bloody and dangerous enterprise ; their pretended attachment to a certain Imam of the house > Apud Abulfar. p. 275. » Ex Abulfar. ibid. Elmacino, p. 174, &c Ebn Shohnah, Khondamir. V. D'Herbel. Art. Carmath. 254 THE PRELIMINAKY DISCOURSE. [Sect. S. of Ali, &c. These Ismaelians, in the year 488, pos- sessed themselves of al Jebal, in the Persian Irak, under the conduct of Hasan Sabah ; and that prince and his descendants enjoyed the same for a hundred and seventy-one years, till the whole race of them was destroyed by Holagu the Tartar ^ The Batenites, which name is also given to the Ismaelians by some authors, and likewise to the Karmatians", were a sect which professed the same abominable principles, and were dispersed over se- veral parts of the East \ The word signifies Esoterics, or people of inward or hidden light or knowledge. Abu'l Teyyeb Ahmed, surnamed al Motanabbi, of the tribe of J6fa, is too famous on another account not to claim a place here. He was one of the most excellent poets among the Arabians, there being none besides Abu Temam who can dispute the prize with him. His poetical inspiration was so warm and ex- alted, that he either mistook it, or thought he could persuade others to believe it to be prophetical, and therefore gave himself out to be a prophet indeed ; and thence acquired his surname, by which he is generally known. His accomplishments were too great not to have some success ; for several tribes of the Arabs of the deserts, particularly that of Kelab, acknowledged him to be what he pretended. But Lulu, governor in those parts for Akhshid king of Egypt and Syria, soon put a stop to the further progress of this new sect, by imprisoning their pro- phet, and obliging him to renounce his chimerical dignity ; which having done, he regained his liberty, and applied himself solely to his poetry, by means whereof he got very considerable riches, being in high esteem at the courts of several princes. Al INIotan- abbi lost his life, together with his son, on the bank • v. Abulfar. p. 505, &c. D'Hcrbel. p. 101, 437, •''tV"), fi20, and 7«4. » V. El- niacin. p. 174, and 28(;. D'llerb. p. 194. J V. Abulfar. p. 361, 374, 380, 483. Sect. 8,] THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 255 of the Tigris, in defending the money which had been given him by Adado'ddawla, solt^n of Persia, against some Arabian robbers who demanded it of him ; with which money he was returning to Cufa, his na- tive city. This accident happened in the year 354 ^ The last pretender to prophecy I shall now take notice of is one who appeared in the city of Amasia, in Natolia, in the year 638, and by his wonderful feats seduced a great multitude of people there. He was by nation a Turkman, and called himself Baba, and had a disciple named Isaac, whom he sent about to invite those of his own nation to join him. Isaac accordingly, coming to the territory of Someisat, published his commission, and prevailed on many to embrace his master's sect, especially among the Turk- mans ; so that at last he had six thousand horse at his heels, besides foot. With these Baba and his disciple made open war on all who would not cry out with them. There is no God but God ; Baba is the apostle of God ; and they put great numbers of Mo- hammedans, as well as Christians, to the sword in those parts ; till at length both Mohammedans and Christians, joining together, gave them battle, and having entirely routed them, put them all to the sword, except their two chiefs, who being taken alive, had their heads struck off by the executioner^. I could mention several other impostors of the same kind, which have arisen among the Moham- medans since their prophefs time, and very near enough to complete the number foretold by him : but I apprehend the reader is by this time tired as well as myself, and shall therefore here conclude this discourse, which may be thought ah'eady too long for an introduction. » Praef. in Opera Motanabbis MS. V. D'Herbel. p. 638, &c. « Abulfar. p. 479. Ebn Shohnah, D'Herb. Art. Baba. Uu Tribe of [jiu-named^ KOREISH {6alel\ Uioloh . -jnah I [Zova (Tayem, ttrjheihan ^ijiiGiaJb XdsoTnmJoslumiAwf (Aba \WaM\ (^t'this FandJy / WomOh [JCeldli fAbd OffidsFionilv~ ir^\Amnt£hn nlJs [Khsa Clhd [Ada 'Fosterih' wtu 1 OmarEhnttllOmUab > {TavemiFohdfia Or' tfii.r Fvii'« FiMjh;! /;>■ Th<>r,,i.' Te,,,r.7J iyie,tpsiJe.il/!X r/i£ DcnvnU from Ismael to Adnan are conte/scdh' iifKerttiin.nw jiiost tf/tpiovt- series enumerdtes eitfhf Generations between those two Fersons in tfw followim/ or Iamael,MdarHamal,!N^abet,Salamau,alHomdsa,alYasa,Odad,OddJ\.diiauuAlBeilial. recfcons om- Generation h'/'s, {fi/ter/m/ a/so in t/te Jfa/nes. in this ///r/«//^/;Tsuiael,T^al YasHiab,Yarab,Yarali,\ahur,al Molciwviuu, Odad.Atbiaii^///' Moliamed himselt.ifo Tradition or' his Wife Chum Saliua is to be depended on, conn ted no more ttian three J'ersons; fiziSie\k,ZeiA,and OA^d, between Ismael ^///<'/ Atbiau;Beia be/ht/ tJw sai w/h^ lfabet,^/////Zeid with alHoiueisa. '/ a :h n. W...«^,„mV^A ». .,d„i,„„ ^„„,„^,,. ,„„„,„„, ^,^ „..„,^r.,., m*,/„„ /^/, yry,/,^: /L M h /r,u'Y//^ 1 - /<.,„/,/ ,/. //,„:, II liiilhil ./li '■^il'ilM.jnr Ui,t\tlkurj n^ >)<-U-v ■'/••■ii' ■'■ n, ^'•/•iiA*n i^'/.'imir/ O' llir r''¥i>/ 1^1^ )l- llir.:li,i/>ilf.t.„nrM.i/hiii •■I'llu' lliinhilil, < fTIn Sl,ili,-n .il'lh- M^lltl-ilMlllhr olthhitt I -B.11AJK' tui'vifh' ''ft w/tfly /'' ith'tftt/ If/' I" III'- 'I''''!- "I' Ihf iihiMt /.; Hn ilinrr Inili'tm* wki'iA at nit/ht ij ilhuilitlilfril with Itt/ii/i.t. i-l flir- liiiil'lili y,\ riif ffiinfi'll l!ri:nil'Y.< 'Hi^lllrMimr in ik, I1m,i.< inthfl'iiH 'lift shrti till- i ■ rif 1,,'iMin 10 riif ,i//"'l,i oliil.lhlni AL KORAN. CHAPTER I. Intitled, the Preface, or Introduction" ; revealed at Mecca. In the name of the most merciful God *. Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures'"; the most merciful, the king of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assist- ance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those * In Arabic al Fatlhat. This chapter is a prayer, and held in great veneration by the Mohammedans, who give it several other honourable titles ; as the cliapter of prayer, oi praise, of thcmksgivbf^, of treasure, &c. They esteem it as the quintes- sence of the whole Koran, and often repeat it in their devotions both public and private, as the Christians do the Lord's Prayer '. • " This formula is prefixed to all the chapters (with the exception of one). It is expressly recommended in the Koran. The Mahometans pronounce it whenever they slaughter an animal, and at the commencement of their reading, and of all important actions. It is with them that which the sign of the cross is with Christians. Giaab, one of their celebrated authors, says, that when these words were sent down from heaven, the clouds fled on the side of the east, the winds were lulled, the sea was moved, the animals erected their ears to listen, the devils were precipitated from the celestial spheres," SLC—Savary. ^ The original words are Rahbi 'Idlamiiia, which literally signify Lord of the worlds ; but dlamina, in this and other places of the Koran, properly means the three species of rational creatures, Men, Genii, and Angels. Father Marracci has endeavoured to prove from this passage that Mohammed believed a plurality of worlds, which he calls the error of the JManichees, &c.'': but this imputation the learned Reland has shown to be entirely groundless^. Savary translates it " Sove- reign of the worlds." ' v. Bobovium de Precib. Mohammed, p. 3, et seq. - In Prodromo ad Refut. Alcorani, Part IV. p. TG, et in Notis ad Ale. cap. 1. ^ De Religion. IMohammed. p. 262. VOL. I. B 2 AL KOKAN. [Chap. 2. to whom thou hast been gracious ; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray '. CHAPTER II. Intitled, the Cow''; revealed partly at Mecca, and partly at Medina. In tlie name of the most merciful God. Ai.. M.' There is no doubt in this book ; it is a direction to the pious, who believe in the m}^steries'' ofjaith, who observe the appointed times of prayer, and distribute alms out of what we have besto^ved on them ; and who Ijelieve in that revelation, which hath been sent down unto thee, and that which hath been sent down unto the propliets before thee*", and have " This last sentence contains a petition, that Gon wouhl lead the supplicants into the true religion, by which is meant the IMohaninicdan, in the Koran often called the right wai/ ; in this place more particularly defined to be, iJic iccuf of those to whom God hnfh heen priieion.i, that is, of the prophets and faithful who preceded fllohammed ; under which appellations are also comprehended the Jews and Chris- tians, such as they were in the times of their primitive purity, before they liad deviatetl from their respective institutions ; not the tcai/ of the modern Jews, whose signal calamities are marks of the just auger of God against them for their obstinacy and disobedience; 7i07' <;/■ ///c Christians o/" //;(« age^ who have departed from the true doctrine of Jesus, and are bewildered in a labyrinth of error '. This is the common exposition of the passage ; though al Zaniaklishari, and some others, by a diflerent application of the negatives, refer the whole to the tnie be- lievers; and then the sense wiU run thus: The waij of those to u-hom thou hast been gracious, against whom thou art not incensed, and xeho have not erred. ^^Tiich translation the original will very well bear. '• This title was occasioned by the story of the red heifer, mentioned p. 13. '- As to the meaning of these letters, see the Preliminary Discourse, Sect. 3. ■^ The Arabic word is gheih, which properly signifies a thing that is alisent, at a great distance, or invisible, such as die resurrection, paradise, and licll. And this is agreeable to the language of scripture, which defines faith to be the evidence of things not seen -. "^ The Mohammedans believe that God gave written revelations not only to Moses, Jesus, and Mohanmied, but to several other prophets^; though they acknowledge ' Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi, &c. ' Heb. xi. 1. See abo Rom. xxiv. 25. 2 Corinth, iv. Irt, and v. 7. ' V. Reland. Dc Reli?,. Moham. p. 34, et Dissert, dc Saniaritanis, p. 34, &c. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 3 firm assurance in the life to come ': these are directed by their Lord, and they shall prosper. As for the unbelievers, it will be equal to them whether thou admonish them, or do not admonish them ; they will not believe. God hath sealed uj) their hearts and their hearing ; a dimness covereth their sight, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. There are some who say. We believe in God, and the last day ; but are not y^eally believers : they seek to deceive God, and those who do believe, but they deceive them.selves only, and are not sensible thereof. There is an in- firmity in their hearts, and God hath increased that infirmity''; and they shall suffer a most painful pu- nishment, because they have disbelieved. When one saith unto them, Act not corruptly " in the earth ; they reply, Verily we are men of integrity '^. Are not they themselves corrupt doers ? but they are not sen- sible thereof. And when one saith unto them. Believe ye as others" believe ; they answer. Shall we believe as fools believe ? Are not they themselves fools ? but they know it not. When they meet those who believe, they say, We do believe : but ^vhen they retire privately to their devils \ they say. We really hold with you, and only mock at those people : God shall mock at them, and unl^inue them in their impiety ; they shall wander in ^Qfi^ of those which preceded the Koran to be now extant, except the Pentateuch of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus ; which yet they say were even before Mohammed's time altered and corrupted by the Jews and Christians ; and therefore will not allow our present copies to be genuine. " The original word al-akherat properly signifies the latter part of any thing, and by way of excellence, the 7iext life, the latter ot future state after death ; and is opposed to al-donya, litis world ; and al-oula, the former or present life. The Hebrew word ahharith, from the same root, is used by Moses in this sense, and is translated latter end '. ** Mohammed here, and elsewhere frequently, imitates the truly inspired writers, in making God, by operation on the minds of reprobates, to prevent their conversion. This fatality or predestination, as believed by the fllohammedans, hath been suf- ficiently treated of in the Preliminary Discourse. •^ Literally corrupt not in the earth, by which some expositors understand the sowing of false doctrine, and corrupting people's principles. ■1 According to the explication in the preceding note, this word must be translated reformers, who promote true piety by their doctrine and example. <= The first companions and followers cf rtloliammed \ f The prophet, making use of the liberty zealots of all religions have, by prescription, of giving ill language, bestows this name on the Jewish rabbins and Christian priests ; though he seems chiefly to mean the former, against v^-lioni lie hatl by much the greater spleen. ' Numb. xxiv. 20. Deut. viii. 10. - Jallnlo'ddin. B 2 4 AL KOiiAN. [Chap. 2. confusion. These are Uic men who ha\ e purchased error at the price of true direction : but their traffick hath not been gainful, neither have they been r'lghllij directed. They are like unto one who kindleth a fire% and when it hath enlightened all around him'', God taketh away their light' and leaveth them in darkness, they shall not see ; theij are deaf, dundj, and blind, therefore will they not repent. Or like a stormy cloud from heaven, fraught with darkness, thunder, and lightning*', they put their fingers in their ears, because of the noise of the thunder, for fear of death ; God enconipasseth the infidels : the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their sight; so often as it enlighteneth them, they walk therein, but when darkness cometh on them, they stand still ; and if God so pleased, he would certainly deprive them of their hearing and their sight, for God is almighty. O men uf Mecca, serve your Lord wdio hath created you, and those AV'ho have been ])efore you : perad venture ye will fear him ; who hath spread the earth as a bed for \o\\. and the heaven as a covering, and hath caused w\ater to de- scend from heaven, and thereby produced fruits for your sustenance. Set not up therefore any equals unto God, against your own knowledge. If ye be in doubt concern- ing that revelation which we have sent down nut" *^^JjJ^^' servant, produce a chapter like unto it, and call v.,viate The sense seems to be here imperfect, and may be completed, by adding the words, he turns from it, sliiits liis r?/('.«, or the like. "^ That is of the unbelievers, to whom the word lluir being in the plural, seems to tefer; though it is not unusual for Bloluimmed, in aflectation of the prophetic style, suddenly to change the number against all rules of grammar. '' Here he compares the unbelieving Arabs to people caught in a violent storm. To perceive the beauty of this comparison, it must be observed, that the IMoham- medan doctors say, this tempest is a type or image of the Koran itself: the thunder signifying the threats therein contained ; the lightning, the promises ; and tlie dark- ness, the mysteries. The terror of the threats makes them stop their cars, unwilling to hear truths so disagreeable ; when tlie promises .ire read to them they attend with pleasure; but when any thing mysterious or difficult of belief occurs, they stand stock still, and will not submit to be directed. ^ i. r. Vour false gods and idol^. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 5 do it not, nor shall ever be able to do it ; justly fear the fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers. But bear good tidings unto those who believe, and do good works, that they shall have gar- dens watered by rivers ; so often as they eat of the fruit thereof for sustenance, they shall say, This is what we have formerly eaten of; and they shall be supplied with several sorts of fruit having a mutual resemblance to one another '. There shall they enjoy wives subject to no impurity, and there shall they continue for ever. Moreover, Goi) will not be ashamed to propound in a parable a gnat*, or even a more despicable thing'': for they who believe will know it to be the truth from their Lord ; but the unbelievers will say. What meaneth God by this parable ? he will thereby mislead many, and will direct many thereby : but he will not mislead any thereby, except the trans- gressors, who make void the covenant of GoD after the establishing thereof, and cut in sunder that which God hath commanded to be joined, and act corruptly in the earth ; they shall perish. How is it that ye believe not in God ? Since ye were dead, and he gave you life''; he will hereafter cause you to die, and will again restore you to life ; then shall ye return unto him. It is he who hath created for you what- soever is on earth, and then set his mind to the creation of heaven, and formed it into seven heavens ; he knoweth all things. When thy Lord said unto the angels, I am going to place a substitute on earth''; " Some commentators ' approve of this sense, supposing the fruits of i)aradise, though of various tastes, are ahke in colour and outward appearance : but otliers ^ think the meaning to be, that the inhabitants of tjiat iilace will iind there fruits of the same or the like kinds, as tliey used to eat while on earth. * " God is no more ashamed to propound a gnat as a parable, than to use a more dignified illustration." — Savary. b This was revealed to take ofF an objection made to the Koran by the infidels, for condescending to speak of such insignificant insects, as the spider, the pismire, the bee, &c. ^ <= i. c. Ye were dead while in the loins of your fathers, and he gave you life in your mothers' wombs ; and after death ye shall be again raised at the resurrection ". d Concerning the creation of Adam, here intimated, the ]\Ioha;nmedans have se- veral peculiar traditions. They say the angels Gabriel, Micliael, anil Israfil were sent by Gou, one after another, to fetch for that purpose seven lumdfuls of earth » Jallalo'ddin. - Al Zamakhbhaii. ^ Yahya. " Jallalo'ddin. 6 Ai> KoiiAX. [Chap. 2. they said, Wilt thou place there one wlio will do evil therein, and shed blood ? but we celebrate thy praise, and sanctify thee. God answered, Verily I know that which ye know not ; and he taught Adam the names of all things, and then proposed them to the angels, and said, Declare unto me the names of these things if ye say truth. They answered. Praise be unto thee ; we have no knowledge but what thou teachest us, for thou art Icnowing and wise. God said, () Adam, tell them their names. And when he had told them their names, God said, Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and know that which ye discover, and that which ye conceal"? And when we said unto the angels. Worship '' Adam ; they ell wor- shipped hhn, except Eblis, ic/io refused, and was puffed up with pride, and became of the number of unbe- from different depths, and of different colours (whence some account for the various complexions of mankind ' ) ; but the earth being apprehensive of the consequence, and desiring them to represent her fear to (/OD, that the creature he designed to fonn would rebel against hiiji, and draw dowu his curse upon her, they returned without performing (tod's command ; whereupon he sent Azra'il on the same errand, who executed his commission without remorse ; for which reason, God appointed that angel to separate the souls from the bodies, being therefore called ihc aiigcl of death. Tlie earth he had taken was carried into Araljia, to a place between IMecca and Tayef, where being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by God himself iiito a human form, and left to dry- for the space of fortj- days, or, as others say, as many ye^irs; the angels in the mean time often visiting it, and Eblis (then one of the angels who are nearest to God's presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest ; but he, not contented vvith looking on it, kicked it wiili his foot till it rung, and knowing God desigr.ed that creature to be his superior, took a secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such. After this, God animatetl the figure of clay, and endued it with an intelligent soul, and when he had placed him in pa- radise, formed Eve out of his left side '. » This story INIohammed borrowed from the Jewish traditions ; which say, that the angels having spoken of man with some contempt, when God consulted them about liis creation, God made answer, that the man was wiser than they ; and to convince them of it, he brought all kinds of animals to them, and asked them their names ; which they not being able to tell, lie put th.e same question to the man, who named tiiem one after another; and being asked his own name, and God's name, he answeretl very justly, and gave (JoD the name of Jehovali '. The angels adoring of Adam is also mentioned in the Tulnnid '•. ^ The original word signifies properly to prostrate one's self, till the forehead touches the ground, wiiich is the humblest posture of adoration, and strictly due to God only; but it is sometimes, as in this place, used to express that civil worship or homage, which may be paid to creatures ^ ' Al Termed), from a tradition of Abu Musa al Ashari. * Koran, c. 5.'. ' Khond amir. Jallalo'ddin. Comment, in Koran, I've. V. D'Hcrhclot, Bibliotli. Orient, p. 55. < V. Kivin. Scrpc;it. Seluct. p. 5G. ' R. 31oscs Iladdai- shan, in Bcrcsbit rabbiili. '• .Jull.do'ddiii. Chap. 2.] AL KURAN. 7 lievers '. And we said, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in the garden^ and eat of the fruit thereof plen- tifully wherever ye will ; but approach not this tree% lest ye become of the number of the transgressors. But Satan caused them to forfeit paradise'\ and turned them out of the state of happiness wherein they had been; whereupon we said, Get ye down% the one of you an enemy unto the other ; and there shall be a dwelling place for you on earth*, and a provision for a season. And Adam learned words of prayer from his Lord, and God turned unto him, for he is easy to be reconciled and merciful. We said. Get ye ail down from hence; hereafter shall there come unto you a » This occasion of the devil's fall has some affinity with an opinion which has been pretty much entertamed among Christians •, viz. that tlie angels being informed of God's intention to create man after his own image, and to dignify human nature by Christ's assuming it, some of them, tliinking their glory to be eclipsed tliercby, envied man's happiness, and so revolted. ^ Mohammed, as appears by what presently follows, does not place this garden or paradise on earth, but in the seventh heaven 2. <• Concerning this tree, or the forbidden fruit, the Slohammedans, as well as the Christians, have various opinions. Some say it was an ear of wheat ; some ^vill have it to have been a fig-tree, and others a vine 3. The story of the fall is told, with some further circumstances, in the beginning of the seventh chapter. Jallalo'ddin, &c. 10 Ai> KoiiAX. [Chap. 2. And when ye said, O Moses, we will not believe thee, iintil we see GoD manifestly ; therefore a punishment came upon you, while ye looked on ; then we raised you to life after ye had been dead, that peradventure ye might give thanks''. And we caused clouds to overshadow you, and manna and (piails ** to descend upon you, saying. Eat of the good things which we have given you for food : and they injured not us *, but injured their own souls. And when we said. Enter into this city^ and eat of the provisions thereof plentifully as ye will ; and enter the gate worshipping, and say, Forgiveness '' ! Vv^e will pardon you your sins, and give increase unto the well-doers. But the un- godly changed the expression into another", different from Avhat had been spoken unto them ; and we sent down upon the ungodly indignation from heaven '^, be- cause they had transgressed. And "when Moses asked drink for his people, v/e said, Strike the rock ^ with thy " I'he persons here meant are said to have been seventy men, v;ho were made choice of by Moses, and licard the voice of God talking with him. But not being satisfied with that, they demanded to see God ; whereupon they were all struck dead by lightning, and on IMoses's intercession restored to life'. ^ The eancrn writers say, these quails were of a pce\diar kind, to be t'ound no- where but in Yaman, from whence they were brought by a south wind iu great numbers to tlie Israelites' camp in tlie desert '2. The Arabs call these birds Salwa, whicli is plainly the same with the Hebrew Salwim, and say they have no bones, but arc eaten whole '• " "■ Your murmurs have been injurious only to yourselves." — Suvurij. '' Some conunentaiors suppose it to be Jericho ; others, Jerus;dem. •^ The Arabic word is IlUtaton ; which some tiikc to signify that profession of the unity of God, so freijucntly used by tJie IMolianmiedans, La ild/ia ilia H, There in no god hut God. *= According to Jallalo'ddin, instead of H'lHaton, they cried Hahh/it J! shdirat, i. e- a ffruiii in an car of hurkij ; and in ridicule of the divine conmiand to enter the city in an h.unihlo posture, they indecently crept in upon tlieir breech. f A pestilence wliieli carried off near 7"',<*f'0 of them *. K Tlie conmientatv.rs say this v.as a stone which Moses brought from IMount Sinai, and the same that ficd away with his garments which he laid upon it one day, while he washed : they add that Moses ran after tlie stone naked, till he found himself, ere he was aware, in the midst of tlie people, who on tliis accident were convinced of tlic falsehood of a report, which had been raised of their prophet, that he was bursten, or, as others write, an hermaphrodites. They describe it to be a square piece of white marble, shaped like a man's head ; wherein they differ not much from the accounts of European travellers, who say thb rock stands among several lesser ones, about 100 paces from Mount Horcb, and ap- pears to have been Ijoscncd froin the neighbouring mountains, having no coherence > Ismacl Ebn ali. ' See Psahii Ixxviii. 2G. 3 V. D'llcrbclot Bibl. Orient, p. 477- " Jallalo'ddin. ■ Jallalo'ddin, Yaliya. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 11 rod; and there gushed thereout twelve fountains" ac- cording to the number of the tribes^ and all men knew their i^e spec live drinking-place. Eat and drink of the bounty of God, and commit not evil on the earth, act- ing unjustly. And when ye said, O Moses, we will by no means be satisfied with one kind of food ; pray unto thy Lord therefore for us, that he would pro- duce for us of that which the earth bringeth forth, herbs, and cucumbers, and garlick, and lentils, and onions''; Moses answered*. Will ye exchange that which is better, for that which is worse ? Get ye down into Egypt, for thei^e shall ye find what ye desire : and they were smitten with vileness and misery, and drew on themselves indignation from God. This thej/ svf- J'ered, because they believed not in the signs of God, and killed the prophets unjustly ; this, because they rebelled and transgressed. Surely those who believe, and those who Judaize, and Christians, and Sabians% with the others ; that it is a huge mass of red granite, almost round on one side, and flat on the other ; twelve feet high, and as many thick, but broader than it is high, and about fifty feet in circumference '. " Marracci thinks this circumstance looks like a Rabbinical fiction, or else that Mohainmed confounds the water of the rock at Horeb, with the twelve wells at Elim » ; for he says, several who have been on the sjiot, affirm there arc but three orifices whence the water issued 3. But it is to be presumed that lUohanmied had better means of information in this respect, than to fall into such a mistake ; for the rock stands within the borders of Arabia, and some of his countrymen must needs have seen it, if he himself had not, as it is most probable he had- And in effect he seems to be in the right. For one who went into those parts in the end of the fif- teenth century tells us expressly, that the water issued from twelve places of the rock, according to the number of the tribes of Israel ; fgrcsscc sunt aquie larg'is. simce in duodecim locis pctrce, juxta numcrum duodccim tribuum Israel*. A late curious travellers observes, that there are twenty four holes in the stone, which may be easily counted ; that is to say, twelve on the flat side, and as many on the opposite round side, every one beuig a foot deep, and an inch wide ; and he adds, that the holes on one side do not communicate with those on the other; which a less accurate spectator not perceiving (for tliey are placed horizontally, within two feet of the top of the rock) might conclude they pierced quite through the stone, and so reckon them to be but twelve. ^ See Numb. xi. 5, &c. * " Moses replied. Do ye wish to enjoy a more advantageous lot ? Return to Egypt ; you will find there that which you desire." — Savary. '= From these words, which are repeated in the 5th chapter, several writers "^ Jiavc wrongly corxluded that the JMohar.micdans hold it to be the doctrine of their pro- ' Breydenbacli. Itinerar. charta m. p. I. Sicard, dans les Mcmoires des Slis- sions, vol. 7- P- 54. 2 Exod. xv. 27. Numb, xxxiii. I). ^ Marracc. Prodr. part iv. p. 80. •* Breydenbach, ubi sup. "> Sicard, ubi sup. * Selden. de Jure Nat. et Gentium sec. Hcbr. 1. G, c. 12. Angel, a S. Joscpli. (iazophylac. Persic, p. 365. Nic. Cutanus in Ciibratione Akcrani, 1. i^, c. 2, &c. 12 Al, KORAN. [Chap. 2. whoever believeth in God, and the last day, and doth that which is right, they shall have their reward Avith their Lord ; there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. Call to mind also when we ac- cepted your covenant, and lifted up the mountain of Sinai over you", sayings Receive the lazv which we have giyen you, with a resolution to keep it, and re- member that which is contained therein, that ye may beware. After this ye again turned back, so that if it had not been for God's indulgence and mercy towards you, ye had certainly been destroyed. Moreover ye know xvliat befell those of your nation who transgressed on the sabbath day""; We said unto them. Be ye changedinto apes, driven av/ayJro7n the society of men. And Ave made them an example unto those who were phct, that every man may bo saved in his own religion, provided he be sincere and lead a good lite. It is true, some of their doctors do agree this to be tlie purport ol' the words ' ; but then tliey say the latitude hereby granted was soon revoked, for that tliis passage is abrogated by several others in the Koran, which crcpressly declare, tliat none can be saved who is not of the iMohammedan faith ; and particularly by those words of the 3d chapter. Whoever foUowtth unij other reli^-iun than Islam (j. c. the Moliammedan), it shall not he accepted ofhhii, and at the last day he shall be of those who perish ^. However, others are of opinion that this passage is not abrogated, but interpret it differently ; taking the meaning of it to be, that no man, whether he be a Jew, a Christian, or a Sabian, shall be excluded from salvation, provided he quit his erroneous religion and become a Moslem, which tlicy say is in- tended by the following words. Whoever helieveth in God and the last day, and doth that which is right. And this interpretation is approved by 31 r. Reland, who thinks tlie words here impoi: no more than those of the apostle, In every nation he that feareth God, and '.c'orhrth righteonsiicss, is accepted with liim"^ ; from which it must not be inferred, that tlie religion of nature, or any other, is sufficient to save, without faith in Christ ■*. " The Mohammedan tradition is, that the Israelites refusing to receive the law of Moses, God tore up the mi,iUitain by the roots, and shook it over their heads, to ter- rify them into a compliance s. ^ The story to which tliis passage refers is as follows. In the days of David some Israelites dwelt at Ailah, or Elath, on the Red Sea, where on the night of the sab- bath the lish used to c ime in great numbers to the sliorc, and stay there all the sabbath, to tempt tliem ; but tlie night following they returned into the sea again. At length, some of the inhabitants, neglecting (iod's command, catched Hsh on the sabbath, and dressed and ate them ; and afterwards cut canals from tlie sea, for the fish to enter, with tluices, which tliey shut on the sabbath, to prevent their return to the sea. The other part of the inhabitants, who strictly observed the sabbath, used both persuiision and force to stop this impiety, but to no purpose, the offenders grow- in" only more and more obstinate ; whereupon David cursed the sabbath-breakers, antl God transformed them into apes. It is said, that one going to see a friend of his that was among tliem, found him in the shape of an ape, moving his eyes about wildly, and asking him whether he was not such a one ? the ape made a sign with ' Sec Chardin's Voyages, vol. 2, p. 326. :»31. = Abu'lkaiwn Ilebatallah dc Abrogantc ct Abrogato. ^ Acts x. 35. ' V. Rclund, de Rel. .Moham. p. 12S, &c. ^ Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL KOKAN. 13 contemporary with them, and unto those wlio came after them, and a warning to the pious. And when Moses said unto his people. Verily God commandeth you to sacrifice a cow''; they answered, Dost thou make a jest of us ? Moses said, God forbid that I should lie U7ic of the foolish. They said, Pray for us unto thy Loud, that he would show us what cow it is. Moses answered, He saith, She is neither an old cow, nor a young heifer, but of a middle age between both : do ye therefore that which ye are commanded. They said, Pray for us mito thy Loud that he ^vould shew us what colour she is of. Moses answered, He saith. She is a red cow ^ intensely red, her colour rejoiceth the beholders. They said, Pray for us unto thy Lord, that he would further shew us what core it is, for several cows with us are like one another, and we, his head, that it was he ; whereupon the friend said to liim, Did not I advise you to desist ? at which the ape wept. Tiicy add, that these unhappy people remained three days in this condition, and were afterwards destroyed by a wind which swept them ;J1 into the sea '. i ■ , , i r '» The occasion of this sacrifice is thus related. A certain man at his death lelt his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in the desert till he came to age ; at which time his mother told him the heifer was his, and bid hmi fetch her, and sell her for three pieces of gold. When the young man came to the market with his lieifer, an angel in the shape of a man accosted him, and bid him six pieces of gold for her ; but he would not take the money till he had asked his mother's consent ; which when he had obtained, he returned to'the market-place, and met the angel, who now offered him twice as much for the heifer, provided he would say nothing of it to his mother ; but the young man refusing, went and acquainted her with the additional offer. The woman perceiving it was an angel, bid her son go back and ask him what must be done with the heifer ; whereupon the angel told the young man, that, in a little time, the children of Israel would buy that heifer of him at any price. And soon after it happened that an Israelite, named Hammiel, was killed by a relation of his, who, to prevent discovery, conveyed the body to a place considerably distant from that where the fact was committed. The friends of the slain man accused some other persons of the murther before Moses ; but they denying the fact, and there being no evidence to convict them, God commanded a cow, of such and such particular marks, to be killed ; but there being no other which answered the description, except the orphan's heifer, they were obliged to buy her for as much gold as her hide would hold ; according to some, for her full weight in gold, and as others say, for ten times as much. This heifer they sacrificed, and the dead body being, by divine direction, struck with a part of it, revived, and standing up, named the person who had killed him ; after which it immediately fell down dead again 2. The whole story seems to be borrowed from the red heifer, which was ordered by the Jewish law to be burnt, and the ashes kept for purifying those who happened to touch a dead corpse ^ ; and from the heifer directed to be slain for the expiation of an uncertain murder. See Deut. xxi. 1 — 9. •> The epithet in the original is yellow ; but this word we do not use in speaking of the colour of cattle. 1 Abu'lfeda. - Idem. ^ Numb. xix. 14 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. if God jolease, will be directed. Moses answered, He saith, She is a cow not broken to 2)loiigh the earth, or water the field, a sound one *, there is no blemish in her. They said, Now hast thou brought the truth. Then they sacrificed her ; yet they wanted but little of leaving it undone*. And when ye slew a man, and contended among yourselves concerning him, God brouglit forth to light that which ye concealed. For we said, Strike tJie dead body with part of the sacri- Jiced CGXv^ : so God raiseth the dead to life, and sheweth you his signs, that peradventure ye may un- derstand. Then were your hearts hardened after this, even as stones, or exceeding them in hardness : for from some stones have rivers bursted forth, others have been rent in sunder, and water hath issued from them, and others have fallen down for fear of God. But God is not regardless of that which ye do. Do ye therefore desire that tJie Je:cs should believe you ? yet a part of them heard the word of God, and then perverted it, after they had understood it, against their own conscience. And when they meet the true be- lievers, they say. We believe : but when they are pri- vately assembled together, they say, AVill ye acquaint them Avith what God hath revealed unto you, that they may dispute with you concerning it in the pre- sence of 5^our Lord? Do ye not therefore t under- stand ? Do not they know that God knoweth that wliich they conceal as well as that which they publish ? But there are illiterate men among them, who know not the book o/" the Imw^, but only lying stories, although they think otherwise. And woe unto them who transcribe comqyllij the book of the laxc" with their hands, and then say. This is from God : that " " That hath not suffered the approach of the mn\c."—Siixnrij. ■ Because of the exorbitant price which they were obliged to pay for the heifer. '' i. c. Her tongue, or the end of her tail i. ■f- " See we not tlie consequences thereof?" — Savary. X " Among tlieni the vulgar know the Pentateuch only by tradition. They have but a blind belief." —Savarij. *■ Mohammed jigain accuses the Jews of corrupting their scripture. ' Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL KORAX. 15 they may sell it for a small price. Therefore woe unto them because of that which their hands have written ; and woe unto them for that which they have gained. They say, The fire i)f^hell shall not touch us but for a certain number of days'*. Answer, Have ye received any promise from God to that purpose ? for God will not act contrary to his promise : or do ye speak concerning God that which ye know not? Verily whoso doth evil **, and is encompassed by his iniquity, they shall he the companions of //> See before p. 12. = Moses took the calfrthkh tliey had made, and burnt it in thejire, and ground it to powder, and strexved it upon the -water (of the brook that descended from the mount), and jnade the children (rf Israel drink ofit^. ^ Mohammed here infers from their forefathers' disobedience in worshipping the calf, at the same time that they pretended to believe in the law of iVIoses, that the faith of the Jews in his time was as vain and hypocritical, since they rejected liim, who was foretold therein, as an impostor ^2. " That is, by reason of the wicked forgeries which they have been guilty of in re- spect to the scriptures. An expression much hke that of St. Paul, where he says, that some mcn\ sins arc open heforelunid, going before tojudgment^. > Exod. xxxii. 20. Dcut. ix. 21. ^ Jallalu'ddin. Yah3'a, al Beidawi. 3 1 Tim. V. 24. VOL. I. C 18 AL KOKAX. [Cliap. 2. ever is an enemy to Gabriel " (for he hath caused tJie Koran to descend on thy heart, by the permission of God, confirming that ^\llich was before revealed^ a du'ection, and good tidings to the faithful) ; whosoever is an enemy to God, or his angels, or his apostles, or to Gabriel, or Michael, verily God is an enemy to the unbelievers. And now we have sent down unto thee evident signs '', and none will disbelieve them but the evil-doers. Whenever they make a covenant, will some of tliem reject it ? yea the greater part of them do not believe. And when there came unto them an apostle from God, confirming that scripture which was with them, some of those to \v'hom the scriptm'es were given cast the book of God behind their backs, as if they knew it not : and they followed the device which the devils devised against the kingdom of Solomon '' ; and Solomon was not an unbeliever ; but the devils believed not, they taught men sorcery, and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babel*, Harut, • The commentators say, tliat the Jews af,ked, what angel it was that brought the divine revelations to IMohammed; and being told that it was Gabriel, they replied, that he was their enemy, and the messenger of wrath and punishment: but if it had been Michael, they would have believed in him, because that angel was tlieir friend, and the messenger of peace and plenty. And on this occasion, they say, this passage was revealed '. That Michael was really the protector or guardian angel of the Jews, we know from scripture'-; and it seems that (iabriel was, as the I'ersians rail him, the angel of revelations, being frequently sent on messages of that kind 3 ; for whicli reason, it is probable, l\Iohamined pretended he was the angel from whom he received the Koran. ^ i. c. Tlie revelations of this book. •■ The devils ha\'ing, by God's permission, tempted Solomon without success, they made use of a trick to blast his character. For they wrote scvcxal books of magic, and hid them under that prince's throne, and after his death told the chief men diat if they wanted to know by wliat means Solomon had obtained his absolute power over men, genii, and the winds, tliey should dig under his throre ; which having done, they found the afojesaid books, which contained impious superstitions. The better sort refused to learn the evil arts therein delivered, but the connnon people did ; and the priests pubHshed this scandalous story of Solomon, which obtained credit among the .Jews, till (Jod, say the Mihanmiedans, cleared tliat king by the mouth of their prophet, declaring that Solomon was no idolater '. • " He (the devil taught unto men magic and the science of the two angels, Ilariit and JMarut, who are condemned to remain at Babylon." — Saiari/, ' .lallalo'ddin. al Zamakh. Yahya. ' Dan. xii. 1. ribid. ch. viii. 16. and ix. 21. l^uke i. 19, 2fi. Sec Hyde dc Rel. Vet. Pcrsar. p. 263. * Vr.hya. Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 19 and Marut * : yet those two taught no man until they had said, Verily we are a temptation, therefore be not an unbeliever. So men learned from those two a charm by which they might cause division between a man and his wife * ; but they hurt none thereby, unless by God's permission ; and they learned that which would hurt them, and not profit them ; and yet they knew that he who bought that art should have no part in the life to come, and woful is the price for which they have sold their souls, if they knew it. But if they had believed, and feared God, verily the reward theij would have had from God would have been better, if they had known it. O true believers, say not to pur apostle, Raina ; but say Ondhorna '' ; and hearken : the infidels shall suffer a grievous punishment. It is not the desire of the unbelievers, either among those unto whom the scriptures have been given, or among the idolaters, that any good should be sent down unto you from your Lord : but God will appropriate his mercy unto ■ Some say only that these were two magicians or angels sent by God to teach men magic, and to tempt them '. But others tell a longer fable ; that the angels expressing their surjirise at the wickedness of the sons of Adam, after prophets had been sent to them with divine commissions, God bid them choose two out of their own number to be sent down to be judges on earth. Whereupon they pitched upon Harut and Marut, who executed their office witli integrity for some time, till Zohara, or the planet Venus, descended and appeared before them in the shape of a beautiful woman, bringing a complaint against her husband (though others say she was a real woman.) As soon as they saw her, they fell in love with her, and endeavoured to prevail on her to satisfy their desires ; but she flew up again to heaven, whither the two angels also returned, but were not admitted. However, on the intercession of a certain pious man, they were allowed to choose whether they would be punished in this life, or in the other ; whereupon they chose the former, and now suffer punish- ment accordingly in Babel, where they are to remain till the day of judgment. They add that if a man has a fancy to learn magic, he may go to them, and hear their voice, but cannot see them *• This story IMohammed took directly from the Persian Magi, who mention two rebellious angels of the same names, now hung up by the feet, with their heads downwards, in the territory of Babel ^. And the Jews have something like this, of the angel Shamhozai, who havnng debauched himself with women, repented, and by way of penance, hung himself up between heaven and earth ■*. * " They taught the difference between man and woman." — Savary. •> Those two Arabic words have both the same signification, viz. Look on us ; and are a kind of salutation. Mohammed had a great aversion to the first, because the Jews frequently used it in derision, it being a word of reproach in their tongue 5. They alluded, it seems, to the Hebrew verb j;n rud, which signifies to be bad or mischievous. ' Jallalo'ddin. "^ Yahya, &c. s V. Hyde, ubi sup. cap. 12. " Bereshit rabbah, in Genes, vi. 2. s Jallalo'ddin. C 2 20 AL KOiiAX. [Chap. 2. whom he pleaseth ; for God is exceeding beneficent. Whatever verse we shall abrogate, or cause thee to forget, we will bring a better than it, or one like unto it. Dost thou not know that God is almighty ? Dost thou not know that unto God belongcth the kingdom of heaven and earth ? neither hav'e ye any protector or helper excei)t God. Will ye require of your apostle according to that M'hich was formerly re({uired of Moses"? but he that hath exchanged faith for in- fidelity, hath already erred from the strait way. Many of those untu whom the scri})tures have been given, desire to render you again unbelievers, after ye have believed ; out of envy from their souls, even after the truth is become manifest unto them ; but forgive them, and avoid t.'wm, till God shall send his command ; for God is omnipotent. Be constant in ])rayer, and give alms ; and what good ye have sent before for your souls, ye shall find it with God ; surely God seeth that which ye do. They say. Verily none shall enter paradise, except they who are Jews or Christians ^ : this is their wish. Say, Produce your proof oj this, if ye speak truth. Nay, but he who resigneth himself'' to God, and doth that which is right '', he shall have his reward with his Lord ; there shall co7}.e no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. The Jews say, The Christians are gyounded on nothing^; and the Christians say, The Jews are grounded on no- thing; yet they both read the scriptures. So likewise say they who Icnow not the scriptwe, according to their saying. But GoD shall judge between them on the day of the resiu-rection, concerning that about which » Namely, to sec Or deserved. The Mohammedan notion, as to the imputation of moral actions to man, which they caU ff.^in, or argnisifion, is sufficiently explained in the Pre- liininary Discourse. 24 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. and Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the pro- phets from their Lord : We make no distinction be- tween any of them, and to God are we resigned. Now if they believe according to what ye believe, they are surely directed, but if they turn back, they are in schism. God sliall support thee against them, for he is the hearer, the wise. The baptism of God " have we re- ceived^ and who is better than God to baptize? him do we worship. Say, AVill ye disj)ute with us con- cerning God ^ who is our Loud, and your Lord ? we have our works, and ye have your works, and unto him are we sincerely devoted. Will ye say, truly Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacol), and the tribes were Jews or Christians ? Say, Are ye wiser, or God ? And who is more unjust than he who hideth the testimony which he hath received from God '^ ? But God is not regardless of that which ye do. That people are passed a:vay, they have what they have gained, and ye shall liave what ye gain, nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which they have done.* The IL foolish men will say. What hath turned thein ^ from their Keblah, towards which they formerlyy^rr/z/erf '^? Say, Unto God hdougetJi the east and the west : he ' directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. Thus \ * By hnptism is to be understood the religion which God instituted in the beginning ; because the signs of it appear in tlie person who profcs.ses it, as the signs of water appear in the clothes of him that is baptized '. " These words were revealed, because tlie Jews insisted, that they first received the scriptures, that their Keblah was more ancient, and that no prophets could arise among the Arabs; and therefore if Mohammed was a prophet, he must have been of thL'ir nation ». •^ The Jews are again accused of corrupting and suppressing the prophecies in the Pentateuch relating to Mohammed. '' At first, Mohanmied and his followers observed no particular rite in turning their faces tow:irds any certain place, or quarter of the world, wlicn they prayed ; it being declared to be perfectly indifferent-'. Afterwards, when the prophet fled to Medina, he directed thom to turn towards the tem]jle of JcTasa!c:ii (prcbably to ingratiate himself with tlie Jewr.). wliich continued to be thoir Keblah for six or seven months ; but either finding the Jews too intractable, or despairing otherwise to gain the pagan Arabs, wiio could not forget their respect to tlie temple of .Alccca, he ordered that prayers for the future should be towards the last. This change was made in the second year of the Hejra'', and occasioned many to fall from him, taking oftcnce at his inconstancy \ • Jallalo'ddin. « Idem. ' See before p. 21. • V. Abulf. Vit. Mohani. p. o-l. s Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] ■ AL KORAN. 25 have we placed you, 0 Arabians an intermediate nation^*, that ye may be witnesses against tJie ix-st of mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness against you. We appointed the Keblah towards which thou didst formerly pray, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth back on his heels '' ; though this change seem a great matter, unless unto those whom God hath directed. But God will not render your faith of none effect " ; for God is gracious and merciful unto man. We have seen thee turn about thy face towards heaven inth uncertainty, but we will cause thee to turn thyself towards a Keblah that will please thee. Turn, therefore, thy face towards the holy temple of Mecca ; and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards that place. They to whom the scripture hath been given, know this to be truth from their Lord. God is not regardless of that which ye do. Verily although thou shouldest show unto those to whom the scripture hath been given all kinds of signs, yet they will not follow thy Keblah, neither shalt thou follow their Keblah ; nor will one part of them follow the Keblah of the other. And if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, verily thou wilt become one of the ungodly. They to whom we have given the scripture know our apostle, even as they know their own children ; but some of them hide the truth, against their own know- ledge. Truth is from thy Lord, therefore thou shalt not doubt. Every sect hath a certain tract oj heaven to which they turn themselves in prayer ; but do ye strive to run after good things : wherever ye be, God will bring you all back at the resurrection, for God is almighty. And from what place soever thou comest » This seems to be the sense of the words ; though the commentators • will have the meaning to be, that the Arabians are here declared to be a most just and good nation. * " We have established you, O chosen people, to bear witness against the rest of the nation, as your apostle will bear it against you."— Savary. ^ i. e. Returneth to Judaism. ■■ Or will not siifier it to go without its reward, while ye prayed towards Jerusalem. ' Jallalo'ddin, Vahya, &c. 36 Ai. KoiiAN. [Chap. 2. forth, turn thy face towards the holy temple ; for this is truth from thy Lord ; neither is God regardless of that which ye do. From what phice soever thou comest forth, turn thy face towards the holy temple ; and wherever ye be, thitherward turn your faces, lest men have matter of dispute against you ; but as for those among them who are luijust doers, fear them not, but fear me, that I may accomplish my grace upon you, and that ye may be directed. As we have sent unto you an apostle from among you % to rehearse our signs unto you, and to purify you, and to teacli you the book of the Koran and wisdom, and to teach you that which ye knew not : therefore remember me, and I will re- member you, and give thanks unto me, and be not unbelievers. O true believers, beg assistance with pa- tience and prayer, for God is with the patient. And say not of those who are slain in fight for the religion of God ^ that Iheij are dead; yea, they are living": but ye do not understand. We will surely prove you by aJfUct'ing you in some measure with fear, and hunger, and decrease of wealth, and /o6.y of lives, and scarcity of fruits : but bear good tidings unto the patient, who when a misfortune befalletli them, say. We are God's, and unto him shall we surely return ''. Upon them shall be blessings from their Lord and mercy, and they are the rightly directed. Moreover Safa and Merwah are two of the monuments of God : whoever therefore goeth on pilgrimage to the temple of Mecca or visiteth it*, it shall be no crime in him if he compass them both ^ » That is, of your own nation. ^ The original words are literally, who arf slain in ihc way of God; by which expression, frequently occurring in the Koran, is always meant war undertaken against unbelievers for the propagation of the I\Iohanimedan faith. <= The souls of martyrs (for such they esteem those who die in battle against in- fidels) says Jallalo'ddin, are in the crops of green birds, which have liberty to fly wherever they please in paradise, and feed on the fruits thereof. •* An expressi'vn frequently in the mouths of the 3Iohanimcdans, when under any great affliction, or in any imminent danger. * " He who shall have performed the pilgrimage of Mecca, and shall have visited the holy house, shall be exempted from offering an expiatory victun, provided that he makcth the circuit of those two mountains. He who goeth beyond what the pre- cept requircth shall experience the gratitude of the Lord."— Saiffry. ' Safa and IMerwa are two mountains near IMccca, whereon were anciently two Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 27 And as for him who vohmtarily performeth a good work; verily God is grateful and knowing. They who conceal any of the evident signs, or the direction which we have sent down, after what we have mani- fested unto men in the scriptvire, God shall curse them ; and they who curse shall curse them ". But as for those who repent and amend, and make known what thei) concealed, I will be turned unto them, for I am easy to be reconciled and merciful. Surely they who believe not, and die in their unbelief, upon them shall be the curse of God, and of the angels, and of all men ; they shall remain under it for ever, their punish- ment shall not be alleviated, neither shall they be re- garded ''. Your God is one God ; there is no God but He, the most merciful. Now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the vicissitude of night and day, and in the ship which saileth in the sea, loaclen with what is profitable for mankind, and in the rain water which God sendeth from heaven, quickening thereby the dead earth, and replenishing the same with all sorts of cattle, and in the change of winds, and the clouds that are compelled to do service " between heaven and earth, are signs to people of understanding : yet some idols, to which the pagan Arabs used to pay a superstitious veneration '. Jallalo'ddin says this passage was revealed because the followers of Mohammed made a scruple of going round these mountains, as the idolaters did. But the true reason of his allowing this relic of ancient superstition seems to be the difficulty he found in pre- venting it. Abu'J Kasem Hebato'llah thinks these last words are abrogated by those other, Who will reject the religion 0/ Abraham, except he who hath infatuated his soul^9 So that he will have the meaning to be quite contrary to the letter, as if it had been, it shall be no crime in him if he do not compass them. However, the ex- positors are all against him 3, and the ceremony of running between these two hills is still observed at the pilgrimage '. * That is, the angels, the believers, and all things in general 5. But Yahya in- terprets it of the curses which will be given to the wicked, when they cry out because of the punishment of the sepulchre '', by all who hear them, that is by all creatures except men and genii. ^ Or, as Jallalo'ddin expounds it, God will not wait for their repentance. = The original word signifies properly that are pressed or compelled to do personal service without hire ; which kind of service is often exacted by the eastern princes of their subjects, and is called by the Greek and Latin writers, Angaria. The scrip- ture often mentions this sort of compulsion or force '. • See the Prelim. Disc. p. 27- ^ See before p. 23. 3 V. JMarracc. in Ale. p. 69, &c. ■< See the Prelim. Disc. sect. IV. 5 Jallalo'ddin. ^ See Prelim. Disc. sect. IV. " iMatt. v. 41- xxvii. 32, &c. ^g AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. men take idols beside God, and love them as with the love due to God ; but the true believers are more fer- vent in love towards God. Oh that they who act unjustly did perceive", when they behold their punish- ment, that all power belongeth unto God, and that he is severe in punishing ! ^^^hen those ^vho have been followed shall separate themselves from their fol- lowers ^ and shall see the punishment, and the cords of relation between them shall be cut in sunder ; the followers shall say, If we could return to life, we would separate ourselves from them, as they have now sepa- rated themselves from us. So God will show them their works ; they shall sigh grievously, and shall not come forth from the fire oj' hell. O men, eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth ; and tread not in the steps of the devil, for he is your open enemy. Verily he commandeth you evil and wickedness, and that ye should say that of God which ye know not. And when it is said unto them tc7/o believe not, Follow that which God hath sent down ; they answer. Nay, but w^e will follow that which we found our fathers practise. What ? though their fathers knew nothing, and were not rightlij directed ? The unbelievers are like unto one who crieth aloud to that which heareth not so much as his calling*, or the sound of his voice. They are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore do they not understand. O true believers, eat of the good things which we have bestowed on you for food, and return thanks unto God, if ye serve him. Verily he hath forbidden you to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that on which any other name but God's hath been invocated ^ But he who is • Or it may be translated, Although Ihc ungodly will perceive, &c. But some copies instead of yara, in the third person, read tara, in the second ; and then it must be rendered, Oh if thou didst sec uficn the ungodly behold their punUh- nient, &c. *• That is, when the broachers or heads of new sects shall at the last day forsake or wash their hands of tlieir disciples, as if they were not accomplices in dieir super- stitions. " The unbelievers are like unto him who heareth the sound of tlie voice without comprehending any thing. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they have no understanding." — Savary. ' For this reason, whenever the Mohammedans kill any animal for food, they Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 29 forced by necessity, not lusting, nor returning to trans- gress, it shall be no crime in him if he eat of those thino-s, for God is gracious and merciful. Moreover they" who conceal aiiy fart of the scripture which God hath sent down unto them, and sell it for a small price, they shall swallow into their bellies nothing but fire ; God shall not speak unto them on the day of resurrec- tion, neither shall he purify them, and they shall suffer ^. a grievous punishment. These are they who have sold direction for error, and pardon for punishment: but how great will their suffering be in the fire ! This theij shall endure, because God sent down the book of the Koran with truth, and they who disagree con- cerning that book are certainly in a wide mistake. It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces in prayer towards the east and the west, but righteousness is of him who believeth in God and the last day, and the angels, and the scriptures, and the prophets; who giveth money for God's sake unto his kindred, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the stranger, and those who ask, and for redemption of captives ; who is constant at prayer, and giveth alms ; and of those who perform their covenant, when they have covenanted, and who behave themselves patiently in adversity, and hardships, and in time of violence : these are they who are true, and these are they who fear God. O true believers, the law of retaliation is ordained you for the slain : the free shall die for the free, and the servant for the servant, and a woman for a woman ^ : but he whom his brother shall forgive maybe prosecuted*, andobligcd to make satisfaction according to what is just, and a always say BlsmVttah, or In the name of God.', which if it be neglected, they think it not lawt'ul to eat of it. " This is not to bs strictly taken ; for, according to the Sonna, a man also is to be put to death for the murder of a woman. Regard is also to be had to difference in religion, so that a 3Iohammedan, though a slave, is not to be put to death for an infidel, though a freeman '. But the civil magistrates do not think themselves always obUo'ed to conform to this last determination of the Sonna. • '•' He who forgiveth the murderer of his brother, shall have the right of requiring a reasonable reparation, which shall be thankfully \>2.\A:'—Savary. > Jallalo'ddin. 30 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. fine shall be set on him^ with humanity. This is in- dulgence from your Lord, and mercy. And he who shall transgress after this, by killing the murthercr, shall suffer a grievous punishment. And in this law of retaliation ye have life, O ye of understanding, that peradventure ye may fear. It is ordained you, when any of you is at the point of death, if he leave any goods, that he bequeath a legacy to his parents, and kindred, according to what shall be reasonable ''. This is a duty incumbent on those who fear God. But he who shall change the legacy, after he hath heard it bequeathed by the dying person, surely the sin thereof shall be on those who change it, for God is he who heareth and knoweth. Howbeit he who apprehendeth from the testator any mistake or injustice, and shall compose the matter between them, that shall be no crime in him, for God is gracious and merciful. O true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was ordained unto those before you, that ye may fear GoD. A cer- tain number of days shall ye fast : but he among you who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall Jast an equal number of other days. And those who can*" keep it, and do not, must redeem their neglect by maintaining • This is the common practice in Mohammedan countries, particularly in Persia " ; where the relations of the deceased may take their choice, either to have the mur- therer put into their hands to be put to death ; or else to accept of a pecuniary satisfaction. '' That is, the legacy was not to exceed a tiiird part of the testator's substance, nor to be given where there was no necessity. But this injunction is abrogated by the law concerning inheritances. ^ The expositors differ much about the meaning of this pa.ssage, thinking it very improbable that peo})le should be left entirely at liberty either to fast or not, on compounding for it in tliis manner. .lallalo'ddin therefore supposes the negative particle nut to be understood, and that tliis is allowed only to those who are not able to fast, by reason of age or dangerous sickness : but afterwards he says, that in the beginning of IMohammcdism it was free for them to choose whether they would fast or maintain a poor man ; which liberty was soon after taken nway, and this passage abrogated by the following, Therefore let him icho shall he present in this month, fast the same /noiifh. Yet this abrogation, he says, docs not extend to women with chUd, or that give suck, lest the infant suffer. Al Zamakhshari, having first given an explanation of Ebn Abbas, who by a dif- ferent interpretation of the Arabic word Yotikunaho, which signifies am or are able to fast, renders it. Those who find great difficnlt;/ therein, &c. adds an exposition of his own, by supposing something to be imderstood ; according to which the sense will be, Those uho can fast and yet have a legal excuse to break it,must redeem it, &c. ' V. Chardin, Voyage de Perse, t. ii. p. 299, && Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 31 of a poor man\ And he who voluntarily dealeth better with the poor man than lie h obliged, this shall be better for him. But if ye fast it will be better for you, if ye knew it. The month of Ramadan shall ye fast, in which the Koran was sent down from heaven^, a direction unto men, and declarations of direction, and the distinction between good and evil. Therefore, let him among you who shall be present'' in this month, fast the same month ; but he who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast the like number of other days. God would make this an ease unto you, and would not make it a difficulty unto you ; that ye may fulfil the number of days, and glorify God, for that he hath directed you, and that ye may give thanks. When my servants ask thee concerning me. Verily I am near ; I will hear the prayer of him that prayeth, when he prayetli unto me : but let them hearken unto me, and believe in me, that they may be rightly directed. It is lawful for you, on the night of the fast, to go in unto your wives''; they are a garment* unto you, and ye are a garment unto them. God knoweth that ye de- fraud yourselves therein, wherefore he turneth unto you, and forgiveth you. Now, therefore, go in unto them ; and earnestly desire that which God ordaineth you, and eat and drink, until ye can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the day-break : then keep the fast until night, and go not in unto them, but be constantly present in the places of worship. These are the prescribed bounds of God, therefore draw not near them to transgress them. Thus God declareth his signs unto men, that ye may fear him. Consume not your wealth among yourselves in vain ; » According to the usual quantity which a man eats in a day, and the aistom of the country •• ^ See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. •^ i. c. At home, and not in a strange country, where the fast cannot be performed, or on a journey. ^ In the beginning of Mohammedism, during the fast, they neither lay with their wives nor ate nor drank after supper. But both are permitted by this passage ". * A metaphorical expression, to signify the mutual comfort a man and his wife find in each other. ' Jallalo'ddin. « Idem. 32 AL KORAN- [Chap. 2. nor present it unto judges, that ye may devour part of men's substance unjustly, against your own consciences. They will ask thee concerning the phases of the moon : Answer, They are times appointed unto men, and to sherd: the season oy the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is not righteousness that ye enter your houses by the back parts thereof % but righteousness is of him who feareth God. Therefore enter yoin^ houses by their doors ; and fear God, that ye may be happy. And fight for the religion of God against those who fight against you, but transgress not by attaching iheni Jirst, for God loveth not the transgressors. And kill them wherever ye find them, and turn them out of that whereof they have dispossessed you ; for temptation to idolatry is more grievous than slaughter : yet fight not against them in the holy temple, until they attack you therein ; but if they attack you, slay them thei^e. This shall be the reward of infidels. But if they desist, God is gracious and merciful. Fight therefore against them, until there be no temptation to idolatinj^ and the religion be God's : but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, except against the ungodly. A sacred month for a sacred month ^ and the holy limits of Mecca, if they attack you therein, do ye also attack them therein in retaliation ; and whoever transgresseth against you by so doing, do ye transgress against him in like manner as he hath transgressed against you, and fear God, and know that God is with those who fear Jiim. Contribute out of your substance toward the defence of the religion of God, and throw not yourselves with your own hands into perdition"; and do good, for God loveth those who do good. Perform the pilgrimage of Mecca, and the visitation of God : and if ye be besieged, send that offering which shall be • Some of the Arabs had a superstitious custom after they had been at Mecca (in pilgrimage, as it seems) on their return home, not to enter their house by the old door, but to make a hole through tlie back part for a passage, which practice is here reprehended. '' As to these sacred montlis, wherein it was unlawful for the ancient Arabs to attack one another, see the Prelim. Disc. Sect. VII. •^^ t. c. Be not accessary to your own destruction, by neglecting your contributions towards the wars against inKdels, and thereby suffer them to gather strength. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 33 the eIoz- tlalifa, where it is said Slohammed stood praying and praising God, till his face became extremely shining*. Bobovius calls it Forkh \ but the true name seems to be Kazah ; the variation being occasioned only by the different pointing of the Arabic letters. '• Jallalo'ddin. - Sec before p. ?• not. e. ^ Al Hasan. ■• Jallalo'ddin. '■ Bobov. de peregr. IMeccana, p. 15. VOL. I. D 34 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. reeled you, although ye were before this of the number of those who go astray. Therefore go in procession from \\hence the people go in procession, and ask pardon of God, for God is gracious and merciful. And when ye have finished your holy ceremonies, re- member God, according as ye remember your fathers, or with a more reverent connnemoration. There are some men who say, O Lord, give us our portion in this vi^orld ; but such shall have no portion in the next life ; and there are others who say, () Lord, give us good in this world, and also good in the next world, and deliver us from the torment of hell fire. They shall have a portion of that which they have gained : God is swift in taking an accounts Remember God the appointed munber of days*': but if any haste to depart from the valley o/Mina in two days, it shall be no crime in him. And if any tarry longer, it shall be no crime in him, in him who feareth God. Therefore fear God, and know that unto him ye shall be ga- thered. There is a man who causeth thee to marvel' by his speech concerning this present life, and calleth God to witness that which is in his heart, yet he is most intent in opi)osing thee ; and when he turneth awayjrom thee, he hasteth to act corruptly in the earth, and to destroy that which is sown, and springeth up'': but God loveth not corrupt doing. And if one say unto him. Fear God ; pride seizetli him, together with wickedness ; but hell shall be his reward, and an un- happy couch shall it be. There is also a man who selleth his soul for the sake of those things which are pleasing unto God'; and God is gracious unto his servants. O frtte believers, enter into the true religion wholly, and follow not the steps of Satan, for he is your ' For lie will jiulge all creatures, says Jallalo'tldin, in the sp:»ce of half a day. '' i. r. Three days .after slaying ilvj sacrifices. •^^ This person was al Akhnas Ebn Shoraik, a fair-spoken dissembler, who swore that he believed in IVIohamnied, and pretended to be one of his friends, and to con- temn this world. But Gon here revcr.ls to the prophet his hypocrisy and wickedness '. ■' 'Setting fire to Iiis neighbour's corn, and killing his asses by night '^. 'i The person here meant was one Sohcib, who being pcrsecutetl by the idolaters of Mecca, forsook all he had, iiul ilrd to Medina '. ■ JalhdoMdii. = Idem. ■ Idei:,. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 35 open enemy. If ye have slipped after the declarations of our xdlt have come unto you, know that God is mighty and wise. Do the hrfidcls expect less than that God should come down to them overshadowed with clouds, and the angels also ? but the thing is decreed, and to God shall all things return. Ask the children of Israel how many evident signs we have showed them ; and whoever shall change the grace of God, after it shall have come unto him, verily God will be severe in punishing Imn. The present life was or- dained for those who believe not *, and they laugh the faithful to scorn ; but they who fear God shall be above them, on the day of the resurrection : for God is bountiful unto whom he pleaseth without measure. Mankind was of one faith, and God sent prophets bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats, and sent down with them the scripture in truth, that it might judge between men of that concerning which they disagreed : and none disagreed concerning it, except those to whom the same scriptures were delivered, after the declarations of God's will had -come unto them, out of envy among themselves. And God di- rected those who believed, to that truth concerning which they disagreed, by his will : for God directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. Did ye think ye should enter paradise, when as yet no such thing had happened unto you, as hath happened unto those who have been before you ? They suffered calamity, and tribulation, and were afflicted ; so that the apostle, and they who believed with him, said ; When will the help of God come ? Is not the help of God nigh ? They will ask thee what they shall bestow in alms : Answer, The good which ye bestow, let it be given to parents, and kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the stranger. Whatsoever good ye do, God knoweth it. War is enjoined you against the Infidels ; but this is hateful unto you : yet perchance ye hate a thing * •' The life of this world is strewed with flowers for the unbelievers. They make ;i scoft" of the faithful. Tliose who have the fear of the Lord shall b2 raised above them at the day of resurrection. God dispenseth as he pleaseth liis innumer- able .i;i!'ts." — Suviiry. D 2 36 AL KOKAX. [Chap. 2. which is better for you, and perchance ye love a thing which is worse for you: but God knoweth and ye Icnow not. 1'hey will ask thee concerning the sacred month, xvhetlwr ihcij r.iaij war therein : Answer, To war tlierein is grievous ; but to obstruct the way of God, and infidelity towards him, and to keep men from the holy temple, and to drive out his people from thence, is more grievous in the sight of GoD, and the temptation to idulatn/ is more grievous than to kill in the saered months. They will not cease to war against you, until they turn you from your religion, if they be able : but whoever among you shall turn back from his religion, and die an infidel, their works shall be vain in this world, and the next ; they shall be the companions of hell fire, they shall remain therein for ever. But they who believe, and who fly for the sake of religion, and fight in God's cause, they shall hope for the mercy of God ; for God is gracious and mer- ciful. They will ask thee concerning wine" and lots^': Answer, In both there is great sin, and cdso some things of use unto men*^ ; but their sinfulness is greater than their use. They will ask thee also what they shall bestow in alms : Answer, What ye have to spare. Thus God showeth his signs unto you, that peradven- ture ye might seriously think of this present world, and of the next. They will also ask thee concerning orphans : Answer, To deal righteously with them is best ; and if ye intermeddle with the management of ichat belongs to them, do them no ta-ong ; they are your brethren : God knoweth the corrupt dealer from " Under tlie name of wine all sorts of strong and inebriating liquors are conipre- ht;ndcd '. •* The original word . al Mciscr, properly signifies a particular game jicrfornied with arrows, and much in use with the pagan Arabs. But by /(•/.? we are here to understand all games whatsoever, wliich are subject to chance or hazard, as dice, cards, &c. * '■■ From these words some suppose that only drinking to excess, ar.d too frecjucnt galling are prohibited 3. And the moderate use of wine they also tiiink is allowed ijy these words of the ICth chapter. And of tht: fruits nj' jxihii-lnr.s ami /^n-ajics t/c ohtniii infill intiiifs drink, and also i^ood vourisliincnt. But the nude received opinion )s, that both drinking wine or other strong liquors in any quantity, and playing at any gauiQ of cliance, are absolutely forbidden '. ' S.'e rl-.c Prolan. Disc >^ V. - S.-e ibid. ' V. .Inllalo'ddin ct al Zamakh- shari. ' See the Pnlim. Disc, ubi sup. Chap. 2.] AL KOKAN. 37 the righteous ; and if God please, he will surely dis- tress you'', for God is mighty and wise. Marry not zvo7nen ic/io are idolaters, until they believe : verily a maid-servant who believeth, is better than an idola- tress, although she jjlease you 7no7e. ■ And give not xvomeii xvho believe in marriage to the idolaters, until they believe : for verily a servant, who is a true believer, is better than an idolater, though he please you more. They invite unto hell fire, but God in- viteth unto paradise and pardon through his will, and declareth his signs unto men, that they may re- member. They will ask thee also concerning the courses of women : Answer, They are a pollution : therefore separate yourselves from women in their courses, and go not near them, until they be cleansed. But when they are cleansed, go in unto them as God hath commanded you'', for God loveth those who repent, and loveth those ^vllo are clean. Your wives are your tillage ; go in therefore unto your tillage in what manner soever ye wilP: and do first some act ih'tt maij he profitable unto your souls'*; and fear God, and know that ye must meet him ; and bear good tidings unto the faithful. Make not God the object of your oaths % that ye will deal justly, and be devout, and make peace among men'^; for God is he who heareth and knoweth. God will not punish you for an inconsiderate word*' in your oaths; but he '^ viz. By his curse, which will certainly bring to notliing what ye shall wrong the orphans of. ^ But not while they have their courses, nor by using preposterous venery '. •^ That is in any posture ; either standing, sitting, lying, forwards, or backwards. And this passage, it is said, was revealed to answer the Jews, who pretended that if a man lay with his wife backwards, he would get a more witty child ■«. It has been iniiigined that these words allow that preposterous lust, which the commentators say is forbidden by the preceding ; but I question whether this can be proved. '' i. c. Perform some act of devotion or charity. " So as to swear frequently by him. The word translated object, properly signifies a butt to shoot at with arrows ^. f Some commentators '' expound this negatively, That ye will not deal justly., nor he devout, &c. For such wicked oaths, tliey say, were customary among the idola. trous inhabitants of Mecca; which gave occasion to the following saying of Mo- hammed ; Wlien you swear to do a thing, and afterwards fnd it letter to do other- wise ; do that whieh is better., and make void your oath. K When a man swears inadvertently, and witliout design. ' Ebn Abbas, Jallalo'ddin. - Jallalo'ddin, Yahya, Al Zamakhshari. Vid. Lucret. de Ver. Nat. 1. iv. v. 12ri}i, &c." Jallalo'ddir. ■• Idem. Yahva. 38 Ai. KOUAX. [Chap. 2. will punish you for that which your hearts have as- sented unto : God is merciful and gracious. They who vow to abstain from their wives, are allowed to wait four months": but if they go back yro??^ their voxc, verily God is gracious and merciful^; and if they re- solve on a divorce, God is he who heareth and knoweth. The women who arc divorced shall wait concernina: themselves vmtil they have their courses thrice", and it shall not be lawful for them to conceal that which God hath created in their wombs'', if they believe in God and the last day ; and their husbands will act more justly to bring them back at this timCy if they desire a reconciliation. The women ought also to behave to- wards their husbands in like manner as their husbands shoidd behave towards them, according to what is just : but the men ought to have a superiority over them. God is mighty and wise. Ye may clivorce your wives twice ; and then either retain thein with humanity, or dismiss t/iejn with kindness. But it is not lawful for you to take away any thing of what ye have given them, unless both fear that they cannot observe the ordinances of God ^ And if ye fear that they cannot observe the ordinances of God, it shall be no crime in either of them on account of that for which the wife shall redeem herself*. These are the ordinances of " Tliat is, they may take so mvicli time to consider ; and shall not, by a rash oath, be obliged actually to divorce them. '' i.e. If tl»ey be reconciled to their wives within four months, or after, they may retain them ; and (ioD will dispense with their oath. •^ Tliis is to be understood of those only with whom the marriage has bctn con- summated ; for as to the others there is no time limited. Tliose who arc not quite past childbearing (which a woman is reckoned to be after her courses cease, and she is fifty-five lunar years, or about fifty-three solar years old) and tliosc wlio are too young to have children, arc allowed three montlis only ; but they who arc with child must wait till they be delivered '. '' That is, they shall tell the real truth, whether they have their courses, or be with child, or not ; and shall not, by deceiving their husband, obtain a separation from him before the term be accomplished : lest the first husband's child slioukl, by that means, go to the second ; or the wife, in case of tlie first iiusband's death, should set up her child as his heir, or demand her maintenance during the time she went with such child, and the expenses of her lying-in, under pretence that she waited not licr full prescribed time -. "^ For if there be a settled aversion on either side, their continuing togetiicr may liavc very ill, and perhaps fatal consequences. ' i. (. If siic prevail on her husband to dismiss her, by releasing part ot licr dowry. ' Jitll;.1.,\Idu;. - Vidivr.. Chap. 2.] AL KoiiAN. 39 God ; therefore transgress them not ; for whoever transgresseth the ordinances of God, they are unjust doers. But if the husband divorce her a third time, she shall not be lawful for him again, until she marry another husband*. But if he (ilso divorce her, it shall be no crime in them, if they return to each other, if they think they can observe the ordinances of God ; and these are the ordinances of God, he declareth them to people of understanding. But when ye di- vorce women, and they have fulfilled their prescribed time, either retain them with humanity, or dismiss them with kindness ; and retain them not by violence, so that ye transgress''; for he who doth this, surely injureth his own soul. And make not the signs of God a jest : but remember God's favour towards you, and that he hath sent down unto you the book of the Koran, and wisdom, admonishing you thereby ; and fear God, and know that God is omniscient. But when ye have divorced your wives, and they have fulfilled their prescribed time, hinder them not from marrying their husbands, when they have agreed among themselves according to what is honourable. This is given in admonition unto him among you who believeth in God, and the last day. This is most righteous for you, and most pure. God knoweth, but ye know not. Mothers after they are divorced shall give suck unto their children two full years, to him who desireth the time of giving suck to be completed ; and the father shall be obliged to maintain them and clothe them in the mean time, according to that which shall be reasonable. No person shall be obliged beyond his ability. A mother shall not be compelled to what * " 'I'he RIaliometan who has thrice sworn to divorce his wife, religion punishes by not allowing him to take her again till she has shared the bed of another man. The faulty person, who is thus unpleasantly circumstanced, endeavours to elude the law. I!e chooses i friend, on whose discretion he can reckoii ; shuts her up with his wife in the presence of witnesses, and tremblingly awaits the result. The trial is a dangerous one. If, when he quits the room, the obliging friend declares that he di- vorces her, the first husband has a right to resume her; but if, having forgotten fricndsliip in the arms of love, he sliould say that he acknowledges her as liis wife, he takes her away with liini, and the marriage is valid." — Savarii. " vb:. By obliging ihem to purchase their liberty witli part of their dawiy. 40 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. is unreasonable on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child. And the heir of the father shall be obliged to do in like manner. But if they clioose to wean tlie child Ifejore the end of txco i/ears, by common consent, and on mutual consideration, it shall be no crime in them. And if ye have a mind to provide a nurse for your children, it shall be no crime in you, in case ye fully pay what ye offer her, accord- ing to that which is just. And fear God, and know that God seeth whatsoever ye do. Such of you as die, and leave wives, their w/re^ must v/ait concerning themselves four months and ten days''\ and when they shall have fulfilled their term, it shall be no crime in you, for that w^hich they shall do with themselves'', according to what is reasonable. God well kno\veth that which ye do. And it shall be no crime in you, whether ye make public overtures of marriage unto such women, ivilliin the said Jour months and ten days, or whether ye conceal such your designs in your minds : God knoweth that ye will remember them*. But make no promise unto them privately, unless ye speak honourable words ; and resolve not on the knot of marriage until the prescribed time be accomplished ; and Icnow that God know^eth that w^hicli is in your minds, therefore beware of him, and know that God is gracious and merciful, it shall be no crime in you, if ye divorce your wives, so long as ye have not touched them, nor settled any dowry on them. And provide for tliem (he who is at his ease must provide according to his circumstances, and he who is straitened according to his circumstances) necessaries, according to what shall be reasonable. TIds is a duty iacumberit on the righteous. But if ye divorce them before ye have touched them, and have already settled a dowry on * That is to say, before they marry again ; and this not only for decency sake, but that it may be known whctliev they be with child by the dccc;i.sed or not. '' That is, if they leave ofT their mourning weeds, and look out for new husbands. • " The desire of marryinj^a wife, whetlier you show it openly, nr conceal it in your own breasts, sliall not render you guilty in the sight of (lon. He knoweih iliat yj t'amiot prevent yourselves from thinking of women; but make to ilicm no promise in secret, unless ye veil your love in decorous language," — Sautn/. Chap. 2.] AL KOiiAX. 41 them, ye shall give them half of what ye have settled, unless they release cuif i^art^ or he release part in whose hand the knot of marriage is''; and if ye release the whole, it will approach nearer unto piety. And forget not liberality among you, for God seeth that which ye do. Carefully observe the apponiled prayers, and the middle prayer '', and be assiduous therein, with devotion towards God. But if ye fear anij danger^ pray on foot or on horseback ; and when ye are safe, remember God, how he hath taught you what as yet ye knew not. And such of you as shall die and leave wives, ought to bequeath their wives a years mainte- nance, without putting them out -jf their houses : but if they go out voluntarily, it shall be no crime in you, for that which they shall do with themselves, accord- ing to what shall be reasonable ; God is mighty and wise. And unto those who are divorced, a reasonable provision is also due; this is a duty incumbent on those who fear God. Thus God declareth his signs unto you, that ye may understand. Hast thou not considered those, who left their habitations, (and they ^vere thousands) for fear of death *'? And God said » i. e. Unless the wife agree to take less than half her dowry, or unless the hus- band be so generous as to give her more than half, or the whole ; which is here ap- proved of as most commendable. '' Yahya interprets this from a tradition of Mohammed, who being asked wliich ^vas the iniddlc praijci\ answered, The evening prayer, which was instituted by the prophet Solomon. But JaUalo'ddin allows a greater latitude, and supposes it may be the afternoon prayer, the morning prayer, the noon prayer, or any other. '' These were some of the children of Israel, wlio abandoned their dwelHngs be- cause of a pestilence ; or, as others say, to avoid serving in a religious war : but as they fled, God struck them all dead in a certain valley. About eight days or more after, when their bodies were corrupted, the prophet Ezekiel, the son of i3azi, hap- ])ening to pass that way, at tlie sight of their bones, wept ; whereupon God said to liim. Call to them, O Ezekiel, and I will restore them to life. And accordingly on tlic prophet's call tliey all arose, and lived several years after ; but tliey retained the colour and stench of dead corps, as long as they lived, and the clothes they wore changed as black as pitch; which qualities they transmitted to their posterity'. As to the number of these Israelites, the commentators are not agreed ; they who reckon Ijast say they were ;5000, and they who reckon most, 70,000. This story seems to have been taken from Ezeldel's vision of the resurrection of dry bones *. Some of the IMohammedan writers will have Ezekiel to have been one of the juilges of Israel, and to have succeeded Othoniel, the son of Caleb. They also call this prophet Ehii al ajiiz, or t/ic son of the old xvoman ; because they say his mother obtained him by her prayers in her old age ^. ' Jallalo'ddin, Vahya, Abulfcda, &c. ^ Ezuk. xxxvii. 1— 10. 3 Al Thalabi, Abu Ishak, Sec. 42 Ai. KOKAN. [Chap. 2. unto thein, Die ; then he restored them to hi'e, for God is gracious towards mankind ; hut the greater part of men do not give thanks. Fight for the religion of God, and know that God is he who heareth and knoweth. AVho is he that will lend unto God on good usuiy**? verily he will double it unto him mani- fold ; for God contracteth and extendeth Iiis hand as he pleaseth, and to liim shall ye return. Hast thou not considered the assembly of the children of Israel, after the time <;/ Moses ; when they said unto their prophet Samuel, Set a king over us, that we may fight for the religion of God. The prophet answered*, If ye are enjoined to go to war, Avill ye be near refusing to fight ? They answered, And what should ail us that we should not fight for the religion of God, seeing we are dispossessed of our habitations, and deprived of our children ? But when they were enjoined to go to war, they turned back, except a few of them : and God knew the ungodly. And their prophet said unto them, Verily God hath set Talut'', king over you: they answered. How shall he reign over us, seeing we are more worthy of the kingdom than he, neither is he possessed of great riches? Samuel said. Verily God hath chosen him before you, and hath caused him to increase in knowledge and stature t, for God giveth his kingdom unto whom he pleaseth ; God is bounteous and wise. And their prophet said unto them. Verily the sign of his kingdom shall be, that the ark shall come unto you': therein shall be tran- » 17.7. F.y contributing towards the cstablislinicnt of his true religion. • " Will you be reaify to t;o forth to tiftht (said die proiihct to them) when the time shall be come ? And wh.i, replied tliey, could prevent Uo from marching under the banner of the failli ?" — Sdiari/. ^ So tlic I\Iolianmiedans name Saul. -f- "■ The Lord, replied Samuel, hath ciioseu him to be your leader. He hath enlightened his mind, and strcngtliencd his arm." — Savai;/. <■ This ark, says Jcllalo'ddin, contained the images of die prophets, and was sent down from heaven to Adam, and at length came to die Israelites who put great confidence diercin, and continually carried it in die front of their army, till it was taken by the Aniidekites. But on this occasion die angels brought it back, in die sight of all the peoiilc, and placed it at the feet of Talut, who was dicrcupoii una- nimously acknowledged for their king. This relation seenii to have arisen from some imperfect tradition of the taking and scniUiig Lack the aik by the Philisuncs '. ' 1 Warn, iv, v., and vi. Chap. 2.] AL KOiiAK. 43 quillity from your Lord', and the relics'' which have been left by the family of Moses, and the family of Aaron ; the angels shall bring it. Verily this shall be a sign unto you, if ye believe. And when Talut de- parted with his soldiers, he said. Verily God will prove you by the river : for he who drinketh thereof shall not be on my side (but he who shall not taste thereof he shall be on my side), except he who drinketh a draught out of his hand. And they drank thereof, except a few of them \ And when they had passed the river, he and those who believed with him,^they said, We have no strength to-day, against Jalut '' and his forces. But they who considered that they should meet God at the resurrection, said. How often hath a small army discomfited a great army, by the will of God ! and God is with those who patiently persevere. And when they went ibrth to battle against Jalut and his forces, they said, O Lord, pour on us patience, and confirm our teet, and help us against the unbelieving people. Therefore they discomfited them, by the will of God, and David slew Jalut. And God gave him the kingdom and wisdom, and taught him his will*^; and if God had not prevented men, the one by the other, verily the earth had been corrupted : but God is beneficent towards his creatures. These are the signs of God : we rehearse them unto thee with truth, a That is, because of the great confider.ce the Israelites placed in it, having v/on several battles by its miraculous assistance. I imagine, however, that the Arabic word Suktnaf, which signifies iranqidUUy or sccurUy ofmhul, and is so understood by the commentators, nmy not improbably mean the divhu: prcsnicc or glory, wlmh used to appear on the ark, and which the Jews express by the same word Shcchuiah. ^ These were the shoes and rod of Moses, the mitre ot Aaron, a pot of manna, a)id the broken pieces of the two tables of the law '. e The number of tliosc who drank out of their hands was about 318^ U seems that ftlohammed has here confounded Saul with Gideon, who by the divme direction took with him against the Midianites such of his army only as lapped water out ot their hands, which were 300 men 3. -i Or Goliah. . „ , it, e Or x,hat he pleased to teach him. Yahya most rationally understands hereby the divine revelations which David received from God; but Jallalo ddm die art ot making coats of mail (which the IMohammcdans believe was that prophet s peculiar trade) and the knowledge of the language of birds. ' Jallalo'dvhn. ■' Idem, Yahya. " Judges vn. 44 AL KOKAN. [Chap. 2. and thou art siirc4y owe of those who have been sent hi/ God. * These are the apostles ; we III. have preferred some of them before others : some of them hath God spoken unto,, and hath exalted the degi-ee of othei-sof them. And we gave unto Jesus the son of ]Mary manifest signs, and strengthened him with the holy spirit ^ And if God had pleased, they who came after those (ipostles would not have contended among themselves, after manifest signs had been shown unto them. But they fell to variance ; therefore some of them believed, and some of them believed not : and if God had so pleased, they would not have contended among themselves, but God doth what he will. O true believers, give ahn< of that which we have be- stowed on you, before the day cometh wherein there shall be no merchandising, nor friendship, nor inter- cession. The infidels are unjust doers. God I there is no God but he ^ ; the living, the self-subsisting : neither slumber nor sleep seizeth him ; to him be-^ longetli whatsoever is in heaven, and on earth. VCho is he that can intercede with him, but through his good pleasure ? He knoweth that which is past, and that which is to come unto them, and they shall not comprehend any thing of his knowledge, but so far as he pleaseth. His throne is extended over heaven and earth % and the preservation of both is no burthen unto him. He is the high, the mighty. Let there be no violence in religion '*. Xow is right dii'ection ■ See before p. 16, Note a. •• The following seven lines contain a magnificent description of the «li\-iDe majesty and providence ; but it must not be supposed the translation comes up to the dignity of the originaL This pai>sage is justly admired by the Mohammedans, who recite it in their prayers ; atd some of them wear it about them, engraved on an agate or other precious stone '. "^ This throne, in Arabic called Corsi, is by the ^lohammedons supposed to be God's tribunal, or seat of justice ; being placed under that other called al Arsh, which they say is his imperial throne. The Corsi allcgorically signifies the divine prondence, which sustains and governs the heaven and the earth, and is infinitely above human comprcher»sion -. •* This passage was particularly directed to some of 3Iohainmed's first proselytes, who having sons that had been brought up in idolatry or Judaisnii would oblige them to embrace ilohammedism by force'. ' v. Bob-jv. de Prec Moham. p. 5, et RelantL Dissert, de Gemmis Arab. pp. 23o, 230. 2 ViiU D'lleibeloL BibL Orient. Art. Corsi. 3 Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL KORAX. 45 manifestly distinguished from deceit : Avlioever there- fore shall deny Tagut % and believe in God, he shall surely take hold on a strong handle, which shall not be broken : God is he who heareth and seeth. God is the patron of those who believe ; he shall lead them out of darkness into light : but as tn those who believe not, their patrons are Tagut ; they shall lead them from the light into darkness : they shall be the com- panions of hell fire, they shall remain therein for ever. Hast thou not considered him who disputed with Abraham concerninoc his Lord '", because GoD had given him the kingdom ? ^\"hen Abraham said, My Lord is he who giveth life, and killeth : he answered, I give life, and I kill. Abraham said. Verily God bringeth the sun from the east, now do thou bring it from the west. ^\Tiereupon the infidel was confounded : for God directeth not the ungodly people. Or /hlsI iiiuu not considered how he behaved who passed by a city which had been destroyed, even to her founda- tions''? He said. How shall God quicken this c'llij, after she hath been dead ? And God caused liim to die for an hundi'ed years, and afterwards raised him to life. And God said. How long hast thou tarned here ? He answered, A day, or part of a day. God said, Nay, thou hast tarried here an himdred vears. Now look * This word properly signifies an idol, or whatever is worshipped besides God ; particularly the two idols of the Mercans, Allat, and al Uzza ; and also the devil, or any seducer. * This was Nimrc-d ; who, as the commentators say, to prove his power of life and death by ocular demonstration, caused two men to be brought before him at the same time, one of whom he slew, ar.d saved die other alive. As to this tyrant's persecution of Abraham, see chap. 21, and the notes thereon. « The person here meant was Ozair or Ezra, who riding on an ass br the ruins of Jerusalem, after it had been destroyed by the Chaldeans, doubted in his mind by what means God could raise the rity and its inhabitants again ; whereupon God caused him to die, and he remained in that condition 100 years; at the end of which God restored him to hfe, a::d he found a basket of figs and a cruse of wine he haJ with him, not in the least spoUed or corrupted, but his ass was dead, Ll:e bones only remaining ; and these, wiule the prophe: leaked on, were raised and clothed with flesli, becoming an ass again, which being inspired with life, began immediately to bray '. This apocryphal story may perhaps have taken its rise firom Nehemiah's viewing of tlie ruins of Jerusalem -. ' Jallalo'ddin, Yahva. &c. See D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. .\rt. Ozair. - Xehem. ii. 1-2. .^c. 46 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. on thy food and tliy drink, they arc not yet corrupted ; and look on thine ass : and this Jiave xve clone that we might make thee a sign unto men. And look on the bones ojl/iinc ass, how we raise them, and afterwards clothe them with flesh. And when /I/is was shown unto him, he said, I know that God is able to do all things. And when Abraham said, O Lord, show me how thou wilt raise the dead " ; God said, Dost thou not yet believe ? He answered, Yea ; but / ask tliis that my heart may rest at ease. God said, take there- fore four birds, and divide them '' ; then lay a part of them on every mountain ; then call them, and they shall come swiftly unto thee : and know that God is mighty and wise. The similitude of those who lay out their substance for advancing the religion of God, is as a grain oj' corn which produceth seven ears, and in every ear an hundred grains ; for God giveth two- fold unto whom lie pleaseth : GoD is bounteous and wise. They wlio lay out their substance for the re- ligion of God, and afterwards follow not w^hat they have so laid out by reproaches or mischief, they shall have their reward with their Lord ; upon them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved. A fair speech, and to forgive *, is better than alms followed by mischief. God is rich and merciful. C) true be- lievers, make not your alms of none effect by reproach- " The occasion of this request of Abraham is said to have been on a doubt pro- posed to him by the devil, in human form, how it was possible for the several parts of th-. forjjse of a mai; which lay on the sea shore, and had been partly devoured by the wild beasts, the birds, and the fish, to be brought together at the resurrection '. '' These birds, pccovding to the commentators, were an eagle (a dove, say others) a peacock, a raven, and a cock ; which ^Vbraham cut to pieces, and mingled their flesh and feathers together, or, as some tell u£, pounded all in a mortar, and dividing the mass into four parts, laid them on so many mountains, but kept the heads, which lie had preserved wholj, in his hand. Then he called them each by their name, and immediately one ]5art flew to the otiicr, till they all recovered their first shape, and then came to be joined to their resjiectivc heads''. This seems to be taken from Abraham's sacrifice of birds mentioned by Moscs3, v/ilh some additional circumstances. <; i. e. Either by reproaching the person whom ihey have relieved, with what they have done for them ; or by exposing his poverty to his prejudice'. » " Humanity in word's and actions is better than alms after injustice."— iS^iv/;//. 1 See D'llerbelot. ji. \'.\. - Jallulo'ddin. Sec J)Tlcrbelot, ubi supra. •' Gen. xv. ' Jallalii'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL KORAN. 47 ing, or miscliief, as he who layeth out what he hath to appear unto men to give alms, and helieveth not in God and the last day. The likeness of such a one is as a flint covered with earth, on Avhich a violent rain falleth, and leaveth it hard. They cannot prosper in any thing which they have gained, for God directeth not the unbelieving people. And the likeness of those who lay out their substance from a desire to please God, and for an establishment for their souls, is as a garden on a hill, on which a violent rain falleth, and it bringeth forth its fruits twofold ; and if a violent rain falleth not on it, yet the devf falleth thereon : and God seeth that which ye do. Doth any of you desire to have a garden of palm trees and vines % through which rivers flow, wherein he may have all lands of fruits, and that he may attain to old age, and have a weak offspring ? then a violent fiery wind shall strike it, so that it shall be burned*. Thus God declareth his signs unto you, that ye may consider. O true be- lievers, bestow alms of the good things which ye have gained, and of that which we have produced for you out of the earth, and choose not the bad thereof, to give it in alms, such as ye would not accept yourselves, otherwise than by connivance '' ; and know that God is rich and worthy to be praised. The devil threateneth you with poverty, and commandeth you filthy covetous- ness ; but God promiseth you pardon from himself and abundance : God is bounteous and wise. He giveth wisdom unto whom he pleaseth ; and he unto whom wisdom is given hath received much good : bvit none will consider, except the wise of heart. And whatever alms ye shall give, or whatever vow ye shall ■■> This garden is an emblem of alms given out of hypocrisy, or attended with reproaches, which perish, and will be of no service hereafter to the giver '. * " Who among you would desire to possess a garden planted with palm-trees, adorned with vines, intersected by rivulets, and enriched witli all the fruits of the earth ; and to be then seized by old age, to leave infants in the cradle, and to see this garden devastated by a whirlwind of flame ? Thus doth God reveal his mysteries unto you, that you may turn your thoughts unto him." — Savary. ^ That is, on having some amends made by the seller of such goods, either by abatement of the price, or giving something else to the buyer to make up the value. ' Jallalo'Jdin. 48 Ai. KORAN. [Chap. 2. vow, verily God knoweth it ; but the ungodly shall have none to helj) them. If ye make your alms to appear, it is well ; but if ye conceal them, and g-ive them unto the poor, this x^Ul be better for you, and will atone for your sins : and God is well informed of that M'hicli ye do. The direction of them belongeth not unto thee ; but God directeth whom he pleaseth. The good that ye shall give in alms shall redound unto yourselves ; and ye shall not give unless out of desire of seeing the face of God '\ And what good thing ye shall give in alms, it shall be repaid you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly ; luito the poor ^\'ho are wholly employed in fighting for the religion of God, and can- not go to and fro on the earth ; whom the ignorant man thiuketh rich, jjecause of their modesty : thou shalt know them by this mark, they ask not men with importunity ; and what good ye shall give in alms, verily God knoweth it. They who distribute alms of their substance night and day, in private and in public, shall have their reward with their Lord ; on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved. They who devour usury shall not ariseyro?/^ the dead, but as he ariseth whom vSatan hath infected by a touch *': this shall happen to them because they say. Truly selling is but as usury : and yet God hath permitted selling and forbidden usury. He therefore avIio when there cometh unto him an admonition from his Lord abstaineth J'rom usury for the future, shall have what is past,/or- gixx-n him, and his affair belongeth unto God. But whoever returneth to usury, they shall be the com- panions of hell fire, they shall continue therein for ever. God shall take liis blessing from usury, and shall increase alms : for God loveth no infidel, or un- godly person. But they who believe and do that which is right, and observe the stated times of prayer, " i. c. For the sake of a reward hereafter, and not for any worldly consideration '. •• vis. Like ihrmoniacs or possessed persons, that is, in great horror and distraction of mind and convulsive agitation of body. ' Jallalo'ddin. Chap. 2.] AL koran! 49 and pay their legal alms, they shall have their reward with their Loud : there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. O true believers, fear God, and remit that which remaineth of usury", if ye really believe ; but if ye do it not, hearken unto war, XV Inch is declared against you from God and his apostle : yet if ye repent, ye shall have the capital of your money. Deal not unjustly xdth others, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. If there be any debtor under a difficulty of paying his debt, let his creditor wait till it be easy Jbr him to do it ; but if ye remit it as alms, it will be better for you, if ye knew it. And fear the day wherein ye shall return unto God ; then shall every soul be paid what it hath gained, and they shall not be treated unjustly. O true be- lievers, when ye bind yourselves one to the other in a debt for a certain time, write it down ; and let a writer ^^Tite between you according to justice, and let not the writer refuse writing according to what God hath taught him ; but let him write, and let him who oweth the debt dictate, and let him fear God his Lord, and not diminish aught thereof. But if he who oweth the debt be foolish, or weak, or be not able to dictate him- self, let his agent *" dictate according to equity; and call to witness two witnesses of your neighbouring men ; but if there be not two men, let there be a man and two women of those whom ye shall choose for wit- nesses : if one of those 'women should mistake, the other of them will cause her to recollect. And the witnesses shall not refuse, whensoever they shall be called. And disdain not to write it down, be it a large debt, or be it a small one, until its time of payment : this will be more just in the sight of God, and more right for bearing witness, and more easy, that ye may not doubt. But if it be a present bargain which ye * Or the interest due before usury was prohibited. For this some of Mohammed's followers exacted of their debtors, supposing they lawfully might '. '' Whoever manages his affairs, whether his father, heir, guardian, or interpreter '. > Jallalo'ddin. ^ Idem. VOL. I. E 50 AL KORAN. [Chap. 2. transact between yourselves, it shall be no crime in you, if ye write it not down. And take witnesses when ye sell one to the other, and let no harm be done to the writer, nor to the witness ; u/iick if ye do, it will surely be injustice in you : and fear God, and God will instruct you, for God knoweth all things. And if ye be on a journey, and find no writer, let pledges be taken : but if one of you trust the other, let him who is trusted return what he is tinisted with, and fear God his Loud. And conceal not the testimony, for he who concealeth it hath surely a wricked heart : God knoweth that which ye do. Whatever is in heaven and on earth is God's : and whether ye manifest that which is in your minds, or conceal it, God will call you to account for it, and will forgive whom he pleaseth, and will punish whom he pleaseth ; for God is almighty. The apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down unto him from his Lord, and the faithful also. Every one of them believeth in God, and his angels, and his scriptures, and liis apostles : we make no di- stinction at all between his apostles ''. And they say, We have heard, and do obey : we implore thy mercy, O Lord, for unto thee must we return. God will not force any soul beyond its capacity : it shall have the good which it gaineth, and it shall suffer the evil which it gaineth. O Lord, punish us not, if Ave forget, or act sinfully : O Lord, lay not on us a burthen like that which thou hast laid on those who have been before us ** ; neither make us, O Lord, to bear what we have not strength to heat\ but be favourable unto us, and spare us, and be merciful unto us. Thou art our patron, help us therefore against the unbelieving nations. » But tliis, say the Mohammedans, the Jews do, who receive Moses, but reject Jesus ; and the Christians, who receive both those prophets, but reject jMohanimed '. •" That is, on the Jews, who, as the commentators tell us, were ordered to kill a man by way of atonement, to give one fourth of their substance in alms, and to cut off an unclean ulcerous part -, and were forbidden to eat fat, or animals that divided the hoof, and were obliged to observe the sabbath, and other particulars wherein the Mohammedans are at liberty 3. » Jallalo'ddin. » Idem. ^ Yahya. Chap. 3.] AL KOiiAN. 51 CHAPTER III. Intitled, the Family of Imran^ ; revealed at Medina. In the name of the most merciful God. Al. M^. There is no God but God, the living, the self-subsisting : he hath sent dovi^n unto thee the book of the Koi'chi with, truth, confirming that which was revealed before it ; for he had formerly sent down the law, and the gospel, a direction unto men ; and he had also sent down the distinction between good and evil. Verily those who believe not the signs of God shall suffer a grievous punishment ; for God is mighty, able to revenge. Surely nothing is hidden from God, of that which is on earth, or in heaven : it is he who formeth you in the wombs, as he pleaseth ; there is no God but he, the mighty, the wise. It is he who hath sent down unto thee the book, wherein are some verses clear to be understood, they are the foundation of the book ; and others are parabolical \ But they whose hearts are perverse will follow that which is parabolical therein, out of love of schism, and a desire of the in- terpretation thereof; yet none knoweth the interpreta- » This name is given in the Koran to the father of the Virgin Mary. See below, p. 56. ^' For the meaning of these letters, the reader is referred to the Preliminary Dis- course, Sect. III. <^ This passage is translated according to the exposition of al Zamakhshari and al Beidawi, which seems to be the truest. The contents of the Koran are here distinguished into such passages as are to be taken in the literal sense, and such as require a figurative acceptation. The former being plain and obvious to be understood, compose the fundamental part, or, as the original expresses it, the mother of the book, and contain the principal doctrines and precepts ; agreeably to, and consistently with which, those passages which are wrapt up in metaphors, and delivered in an enigmatical, allegorical style, are always to be interpreted '. ' See the Prelim. Disc. § III. E 2 52 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. tioii thereof, except God. ]5ut they who are M-ell grounded in knowledge say, We believe therein, the whole is from our Lord ; and none will consider except the prudent *. O Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve fi'oyn truth, after thou hast directed vis : and give us from thee mercy, for thou art he who giveth. O Lord, thou shalt surely gather mankind together, unto a day of resurrection : there is no doubt of it, for God will not be contrary to the promise. As for the infidels, their wealth shall not profit them any thing, nor their childi'en, against God : they shall be the fuel of hcU fire. According to the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who went before them, they charged our signs with a lie ; but God caught them in their wickedness, and God is severe in punishing. Say unto those who believe not. Ye shall be overcome, and thrown together into hell ; an unhappy couch shall it he. Ye have already had a miracle shoxni you in two armies, which attacked each other '' : one army fought for God's true religion, but the other ^vere in- fidels ; they saw the faithjhl twice as many as them- • " This language is that of the wise." — Savary. " The sign or miracle here meant was the victory gained by INIohammed in tiie second year of the Hejra, over the idolatrous Meccans, headed by Abu Sofian, in the valley of Bedr, which is situate near the sea between Mecca and Medina. ]\Io- hammed's forces consisted of no more than three hundred and nineteen men, but tlie enemies* army of near a thousand ; notwithstanding wliich odds, he put tliem to flight, having killed seventy of the principal Koreish, and taken as many prisoners, with the loss of only fourteen of his own men >. This was the first \-ictory obtained by the prophet, and though it may seem no very considerable action, yet it was of great advantage to him, and the foundation of all his future power and success. For which reason it is famous in tlie Arabian history, and more than once vaunted in the Koran-, as an effect of the divine assistance. The miracle, it is said, consisted in three things ; 1 . Mohammed, by the direction of the angel Gabriel, took a handful of gravel and threw it towards the enemy in the attack, saying, ]\Iiuj their faces lu: confounded i whereupon they immediately turned their backs and fled. But, though the prophet seemingly threw the gravel himself, yet he is told in the Koran ■', that it was not he, but (iod, who threw it ; that is to say, by the ministry of his angel. 2. The Mohammedan troops seemed to the infidels to be twice as many in number as themselves, which greatly discouraged them. And, 3. Gotl sent down to their assistance first a thousand, and afterwards three thousand angels, led by (iabriel, mounted on his horse Haiziim ; and according to the Koran', these celestial auxiliaries really did all the execution, though Mohammed's men imagined themselves did it, and fought stoutly at the same time. ' See Elmacin. p. 5. Hottinger. Hist. Orient. 1 2. c. 4. Abulfed. Vit. Moham. p. 56, &c. Prideaux's Life of IMoham. p. 71, &c. ' See this chap, below, and chapters 8 and 32. ^ (hap. 8, not far from the begiiming. * Il)id. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 53 selves in t/ieir eye-sight ; for God strengtheneth with his help whom he pleaseth. Surely herein was an example unto men of understanding. The love and eager desire of wives, and children, and sums heaped up of gold and silver, and excellent horses, and cattle, and land, is prepared for men : this is the provision of the present life * ; but unto God shall be the most excellent return. Say, Shall I declare unto you better tilings than this ? For those who are devout are pre- pared with their Lord, gardens through which rivers flow ; therein shall they continue for ever : and they shall enjoy wives free from impurity, and the favoiu' of God ; for God regardeth his servants ; who say, O Lord, we do sincerely believe ; forgive us therefore our sins, and deliver us from the pain of hell fire : the patient, and the lovers of truth, and the devout, and the almsgivers, and those who ask pardon early in the morning. God hath borne witness that there is no God but he ; and the angels, and those who at^e en- dowed with wisdom, profess the same ; who executeth righteousness ; there is no God but he ; the mighty, the wise. Verily the true religion in the sight of God is Islam "^ ; and they who had received the scrip- tures dissented not therefrom^ until after the know- ledge of God's unity had come unto them, out of envy among themselves ; but whosoever believeth not in the signs of God, verily God will be swift in bringing him to account. If they dispute with thee, say, I have resigned myself unto God, and he who folio weth me doth the same : and say unto them who have received the scriptures, and to the ignorant ^ Do ye profess the religion of Islam ? now if they • " Such are the enjoyments of this earthly life ; but the asylum which is pre- pared by God is far more delectable." — Savari/. =» The proper name of the Mohammedan religion, which signifies the resigning or devoting one's self entirely to God, and his service. This they say is the religion which all the prophets were sent to teach, being founded on the imity of God '. '' i. c. The pagan Arabs, who had no knowledge of the scriptures =. » Jallalo'ddin, Al Beidawi. ^ Idem. 54 AL KORxVX. [Chap. 3. embrace Islam, they are surely directed ; but if they turn their backs, verily unto thee helongeth preaching only; for God regardetli his servants. And unto those who believe not in the signs of GoD, and slay the pro])hets without a cause, and put those men to death who teach justice ; denounce unto them a painful punishment. These are they whose works perish in this world, and in that which is to come ; and they shall have none to help them. Hast thou not observed those unto whom part of the scripture was given ^? They were called unto the book of God, that it might judge between them''; then some of them turned their backs, and retired afar off. This they did because they said, The fire of hell shall by no means touch us, but for a certain number of days'': and that which they had falsely devised hath deceived them in their religion. How then uill it be mth them, when we * That is, the Jews. •* This passage was revealed on occasion of a dispute Mohammed had with some Jews, which is differently related by the commentators. Al Beidawi says, that Mohammed going one day into a Jewish synagogue, NaVm Ebn Amru and al Hareth Ebn Zeid asked him what religion he was of? To whicli he answering. Of the religion of Abraham ; tliey replied, Abraham was a Jew ; but on Mohammed's proposing that the Pentateucb might decide the question, they would by no means agree to it. liut Jallalo'ddin tells us, Tliat two persons of the Jewish religion having com- mitted adultery, their punishment was referred to Mohammed, who gave sentence that they should be stoned, according to the law of Moses. This the Jews refused to submit to, alleging there was no such command in the Pentateuch : but on i\Io- hanimed's appealing to the book, the said law was found therein. Whereupon tlie criminals were stoned, to the great mortification of the Jews. It is very remarkable that this law of IVIoses concerning the stoning of adulterers is mentioned in tlie New Testament ' (though I know some dispute the authenticity of that whole passage), but is not now to be found, either in the Hebrew or Sama- ritan Pentateuch, or in the Septuagint ; it being only said that such s/tall be put to death '. Tliis omission is insisted on by the Mohammedans as one instance of the corruption of the law of JMoscs by the Jews. It is also observable that there was a verse once extant in the Koran, commanding adulterers to be stoned ; and the commentators say the words only are abrogated, the sense or law still remaining in force ^. « i.e. Forty; the time their forefathers worshipped the calf'. Al Beidawi adds, that some of tliem pretended tlicir punishment was to last but seven days, that is a day for every thousand years which they supposed tlie world was to endure ; and that they imagined they were to be so mildly dealt witli, eitlicr by reason of the inter- cession of their fathers the prophets, or because GoD had promised Jacob, that his offspring should be punithed but slightly. ' Jolm viii. r». • Lev. xx. 10. See Whiston's Ess-iy towards restoring the true Text of the Old Test. p. 9!), 100. » gee the Prelim. Disc, t? 3. ^ See before p. !.'>. Chap. 3.] Ai- KOiiAN. 55 shall gather tiiein together at the day qfjudgme/il^ of which there is no doubt ; and every soul shall be paid that which it hath gained, neither shall they be treated unjustly? Say, O God, who possessest the kingdom ; thou givest the kingdom unto whom thou wilt, and thou takest av/ay the kingdom from whom thou wilt : thou exaitest whom thou wilt, and thou humblest whom thou wilt : in thy hand is good, for thou art almighty. Thou makest the night to succeed the day : thou bringest forth the living out of the dead, and thou bringest forth the dead out of the living''; and providest food for whom thou wilt without measure. Let not the faithful take the infidels for their pro- tectors, rather than the faithful: he who doth this shall not be jjrotccted of God at all ; unless ye fear any danger from them : but God warneth you to be- ware of himself; for unto God must ye return. Say, Whether ye conceal that which is in your breasts, or whether ye declare it, God knoweth it ; for he knoweth whatever is in heaven, a^id whatever is on earth : God is almighty. On the last day every soul shall find the good which it hath wrought, present; and the evil which it hath wrought, it shall wish that between itself and that were a wide distance : but God warneth you to beware of himself * ; for God is gracious unto his servants. Say, If ye love God, follow me : tlien God shall love you, and forgive you your sins ; for God is gracious, and merciful. Say, Obey GoD, and his apo- stle : but if ye go back, verily God loveth not the unbelievers. God hath surely chosen Adam, and Noah, and the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran*" above the rest of the world; a race descending the one from the other : God is he who heareth and " The Mohammedans have a tradition^ that the first banner of the infidels that shall be set up, on the day of judgment, will be that of the Jews ; and that God will first reproach them with their wickednes?, over the heads of tliose who are pre- sent, and then order them to hell ^ '' As a man from seed, and a bird from an egg ; and vice versa '^. * " The Lord exhorteth you to^dread his anger. He looketh on his servants with a propitious eye." — Savary. '^ Or Amran, is the name of two several persons, according to the BJohammedan > Al Beidawi. ^ Jallalo'ddin. 56 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. knoweth. Remember when the wife of Imran* said. Lord, verily I have vowed unto thee that which is in my womb, to be dedicated /o tJiij service ^ : accept it therefore of me ; for thou art lie who heareth and knoweth. And when she was delivered of it, she said, Lord, verily I have brought forth a female (and God well knew what she had brought forth), and a male is not as a female'^*. I have called her Mary: and I tradition. One was the fiither of Moses and Aaron ; and the other was tlie father of tlie Virgin Mary ' ; but lie is called by some Christian writers Joachim. The com- mentators suppose the first, or rather both of them, to be meant in this place; how- ever the per«)n intended in the next passage, it is agreed, was the latter; who besides Mary the mother of Jesus, had also a son named j\aron ', and a sister named Isha (or Elizabeth;, who n^.anied Zacharias, and was the mother of John the liaptist; whence that prophet and Jcs.is are usually called by the Mohammedans The two sons of ilic aunt, or the cousins german. From the identity of names it has been generally im.agined by Christian viTitcrs^ that the Koran here confounds 3Iary the mother of Jesus with i\Iary or Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron ; which intolerable anachronism, if it were certain, is sufficient of itself to destroy the pretended authority of this book. But though lilo- hamnied may be supposed to have been ignorant enough in ancient history and chro- nology, to have committed so gross a blunder ; yet I do not see how it can be made out from the words of the Kor.'m. For it does not follow, because two persons have the same name, and have each a father and brother who bear the same names, that they nmst therefore necessarily be the same person : besides such a mistake is inconsistent with a number of other places in the Koran, whereby it manifestly appears that JMohammed well knew and asserted that Moses preceded Jesus several ages. And the commentators accordingly fail not to tell us, that there had passed about one thousand eight hundred years between Amran the father of JMoses, and Amran the father of the Virgin Mary : they also make them the sons of different persons ; the first, they say, was the son of Yeshar, or Izhar (ihough he was really his brother)'' the son of Kahath, the son of Len; and the other was tlie son of Mathan'', whose genealogy they trace, but in a very corrupt and imperfect manner, up to David, and thence to Adam^ It must be observed, that though the Virgin ]\Iary is called in tlie Koran ', the sister of Aaron, yet she is nowhere called the sister of IMoses ; however some I\Io- hammedan writers have imagined that the same individual Marj', the sister of Moses, was miraculously preserved ahve from his time till that of Jesus Christ, purposely to become the mother of the latter ". " The Imran here mentioned was the father of the Virgin IMary, and his wife's name was Hannah or Ann, the daughter of Fakudli. This woman, say the com- mentators, being aged, and barren, on seeing a bird feed her young ones, became very desirous of issue, and begged a child of (Jon, promising to consecrate it to his service in the temple ; whereupon she had a child, but it proved a daughter ». •' The Arabic word is fire; but here signifies particularly one that is //•(■<■ or de- tached from all worldly deshes and occupations, and wholly devoted to God's service '". = Because a female could not minister in the temple as a male could ". " '• OoD knew to what she had given birth. Obvious characters distinguish the two sexes." — Suvary. ' iVl Zamakhshari, al Beidawi. « Koran, c. 19. 3 V. Rcland, de Rcl. Moh. p. 211. IMarracc. in Ale. p. 115, }i:>. "Chap. 19. » V. Guadiignol, Apolog. pro Hil, Christ, contra Ahmed Ebn Ztin al Abedin, p. 279. ^ Al Beidawi, al Thalabi. ''' Jallalo'ddin, al Zamakhshari. "' Jjillalo'ddin. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 57 commend her to thy protection, and also her issue, against Satan driven away with stones \ Therefore the Lord accepted her with a gracious acceptance'', and caused her to bear an excellent offspring. And Zacharias took care of the child ; whenever Zacharias went into the chamber to her, he found provisions with lier'': cmd he said, O Mary, whence hadst thou this? she answered, This is from GoD : for God provideth for whom he pleaseth without measure''. There Za- charias called on his Lord, and said, Lord, give me from thee a good offspring, for thou art the hearer of prayer. And the angels^ called to him, while he stood praying in the chamber, sayings Verily God promiseth thee a son named John, who shall bear witness to the Word*^ "dchlch cometh from God ; an honourable person, » This expression alludes to a tradition, that Abraham, when the devil tempted him to disobey God in not sacrificing his son, drove the fiend away by throwing stones at him ; in memory of which the Blohammedans, at the pilgrimage of Ulecca, throw a certain number of stones at the devil, with certain ceremonies, in the valley of Mina '. It is not improbable that the pretended immaculate conception of the Virgin fliary is intimated in this passage. For according to a tradition of fllohammed, every per- son that comes into the world is touched at his birth by the devil, and therefore cries out, IMary and her son only excepted ; between whom and the evil spirit God placed a veU, so that his touch did not reach them '2. And for this reason, they say, neither of them were guilty of any sin, like the rest of the children of Adam ^ ; which pe- culiar grace they obtained by virtue of this recommendation of them by Hannah to God's protection. '' Though the child happened not to be a male, yet her mother presented her to the priests who had the care of the temple, as one dedicated to God ; and they having received her, she was committed to the care of Zacharias, as will be observed by and by, and he built her an apartment in the temple, and supplied her with ne- cessaries '. "= The commentators say that none went into Mary's apartment but Zacharias himself, and that he locked seven doors upon her ; yet he found she had always win- ter fruits in summer, and summer fruits in winter ^. ^ There is a story of Fatema, fllohammed's daughter, that she once brought two loaves and a piece nf flesh to her father, who returned them to her, and having called for her again, when she uncovered the dish, it was fuU of bread and meat ; and on Mohammed's asking her whence she had it ? she answered in the words of this pass- age. This is from God; for God provideth for xvhom he picascth idthoid measure. Whereupon he blessed God, who thus favoured her, as he had the most excellent of the daughters of Israel ''. « Though the word be in the plural, yet the commentators say it was the angel Gabriel only. The same is to be understood where it occurs in the following passages. f That is Jesus ; who, al Beidawi says, is so called, because he was conceived by the word or command of God, without a father. 1 Sec the Prelim. Disc. § 4. " Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. ^ Kitada. ■> Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. V. Lud. de Dieu, in not. ad Hist. Christi Xaverii, p, 542. ^ Al Beidawi. V. de Dieu, ub. supr. p. 548. « Al Beidawi. 58 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. chaste", and one of tlie righteous prophets. He an- swered, Lord, how shall 1 have a son, when old age hath overtaken me'*, and my wife is barren? The angel said, So God doth that which he pleaseth. Za- charias answered, Lord, give me a sign. The angel said. Thy sign shall be, that thou shalt speak unto no man' for three days, otherwise than by gesture : re- member thy Lord often, and praise him evening and morning. And when the angels said, O Mary, verily God hath chosen thee, and hath purified thee, and hath chosen thee above all the women of the world : O Mary, be devout towards thy Lord, and worship, and bow down with those who bow down. This is a secret history : we reveal it unto thee, although thou wast not present with them when they threw in their rods to cast lots which of them should have the edu- cation of Mary'* ; neither wast thou with them, when they strove among themselves. When the angels said ; O Mary, verily God sendeth thee good tidings, that thou shalt hear the Word, jjroceedhig from himself; his name shall be Christ Jesus the son of Mary, honourable in this world and in the world to come, and 07ie of those who approach near to the presence of God ; and he shall speak unto men in the cradle", and •■• The original word signifies one who refrains not only from women, but from all other worldly dehghts and desires. Al Bcidawi mentions a tradition, that during his cliildhood some boys invited him to play, but he refused, saying that he was not cre- ated to play. ^ Zacharias was then ninety-nine years old, and his wfe eighty-nine'. <" Though he could not speak to any body else, yet his tongue was at liberty to praise ( Jod ; as he is directed to do by the following words. ■' AVhen IVIary was first brought to the temple, the priests, because she was the daughter of one of their chiefs, disputed among themselves, who should have the education of her. Zacharias insisted that he ought to be preferreil, because he had married her aunt; but the others not consenting; that it should be so, tliey agreed to decide the matter by casting of lots : whereupon twenty-seven of them went to the river Jordan, and threw in tlicir rods (or arrows without heads or feathers, such as the Arabs used for the same purpose), on which they had written some passages of the law, but they all sunk, except that of Zacharias, which floated on the water ; and he had thereupon the care of the child committed to him". >•• Besides an instance of this given in the Koran itself \ which I shall not here an- ticipate, a ftlohanmicdan writer (of no very great credit indeed) tells two stories, one of Jesus's speaking while in his mother's womb, to reprove her cousin Joseph for his unjust suspicions of her* ; and another of his giving an answer to the same person > AlBeidawa. ^ Idem. Jallalo'ddin, &c. ^ Chap. 19. ■• V. Sikii notas in Evang. Infant, p. 5. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 59 when he is grown up**; and he shall be one of the righteous : she answered, Lord, how shall I have a son, since a man hath not touched me ? the angel said. So God createth that which he pleaseth : when he decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it. Be, and it is : God shall teach him the scripture, and wisdom, and the law, and the gospel; and shall appoint him his apostle to the children of Israel; and he shall say. Verily I come unto you with a sign from your Lord ; for I will make before you, of clay, as it were the figure of a bird""; then I will breathe thereon, and it shall become a bird, by the permission of God'': and I will heal him that hath been blind from his birth ; and the leper : and I will raise the dead'^ by the permission of soon after he was born. For Joseph being sent by Zacharias to seek fllary (who had gone out of the city by night to conceal her delivery), and having found her, began to expostulate with her, but she made no reply ; whereupon the child spoke these words : Ryoicc, 0 Joseph, and he of good cheer; for God hath brought me forth from the darkness of the xeoinh, to the light of the world ; and I shall go to the children of Israel, and invite them to the obedience of God '. These seem all to have been taken from some fabulous traditions of the eastern Christians, one of which is preserved to us in the spurious gospel of the Infancy of Christ ; where we read that Jesus spoke while yet in the cradle, and said to his mother, Verily I am Jesus the son of God, the word -which thou hast brought forth, as the angel Gabriel did declare unto thee ; and my Father hath sent mc to save the » The Arabic word properly signifies a man in full age, that is, between thirty or thirty-four and fifty-one ; and the passage may relate to Christ's preaching here on earth. But as he had scarce attained this age when he was taken up into heaven, the commentators choose to understand it of his second coming 3. ^ Some say it was a bat ^, though others suppose Jesus made several birds of dif- ferent sorts •■'. This circumstance is also taken from the following fabulous tradition, which may be found in the spurious gospel abovementioned. Jesus being seven years old, and at play with several cliildren of his age, they made several figures of birds and beasts, for their diversion, of clay ; and each preferring his own workmanship, Jesus told them that he would make his walk and leap ; which accordingly, at his com- mand, they did. He made also several figures of sparrows and other birds, which flew about or stood on his hands as he ordered them, and also ate and drank when he offered them meat and drink. The children telling this to their parents, v/ere for- bidden to play any more with Jesus, whom they held to be a sorcerer^. "^ The commentators observe that these words are added here, and in the nest sen- tence, lest it should be thought Jesus did these miracles by his own power, or was God'. •* Jallalo'ddin mentions three persons whom Christ restored to life, and who lived several years after, and had children ; viz. Lazarus, the widow's son, and the pub- lican's Cl suppose he means the ruler of the synagogue's) daughter. He adds that he also raised Shem the son of Noah, who, as another writes ^ thinking he had been ' Al Kessai, apud eundem. "^ Evang. Infant, p. 5. ^ Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. ^ Jallalo'ddin. ^ Al Thalabi. ^' Evang. Infant, p. Ill, \c. ' Al Beidawi, &c. « Al Thalabi. Go AL KORAN. [Chap. i3. God : and I will prophesy unto you what ye eat, and what ye lay up for store in your houses. Verily herein ^v'ill be a sign unto you, if ye believe. And / come to confirm the law which was revealed before me, and to allow unto you as lawful part of that wliich hath been forbidden you": and I come unto you with a sign from your Lord*; therefore fear God, and obey me. Ye- rily God is my Lord, and your Lord : therefore serve him. This is the right way. But when Jesus perceived their unbelief, he said, "Who idll be my helj)ers towards God? The apostles'* answered. We liill he the helpers of God ; we believe in God, and do thou bear witness that we are true believers. O Lord, we believe in that which thou hast sent down, and we liave followed thy apostle ; \vrite us down therefore with those who bear witness of him. And Ihe Jews devised a stratagem against him" ; but God devised a stratagem against themf'^; and God is the best deviser ciilled to judgment, came out of his <^rave with his head half grey, whereas men did not grow grey in liis days ; after which he immediately died again. "■ Such as the eating of fish that have neither fins nor scales, the cawl and fat of animals, and camels' flesh, and to work on the sabbadi. These things, say the com- mentators, being arbitrary institutions in the law of Moses, were abrogated by Jesus; as several of the same kind instituted by the latter have been since abrogated by Mohammed '. * " God has given unto me the power of miracles." — Savary, ^ In Arabic, al Huxvarhjun ; which v.'ord they derive from Hara, to he u-IiUe, and suppose the apostles were so called either from tlie candour and siinriifi/ of tlieir minds, or because tliey were princes and wore wiiite garments, or else because tlicy were by trade fi/lkrs''. According to which last opinion, their vocation is thus re- lated : That as Jesus passed by the sea side, he saw some fullers at work, and ac- costing them, said, Yc cUuiixc ifusc clot/is, hut ckuusc not your Itcarts ; upon which they believed on liim. But the true etymology seems to be from the Etliiopic verb Ha-u'yia, to ffo ; wlicnce Nawarya signifies one that is sent, a viessenf^er or (ipostle\ •^ i. e. Tliey laid a design to take away his life. ■f " The Jews were treacherous unto Jesus. God fruscrated their treacherj'. He is more powerful than the deceivers.'''' — Savary. •^ This stratagem of God's was the taking of Jesus up into heaven, and stamping his likeness on another person, who was apprehended and cnicified in liis stead. For it is the constant doctrine of the Mohammedans, that it was not Jesus himself who underwent that ignominious death, but somebody else in his shape and resemblance'. The person crucified some will have to be a spy that was sent to entrap him ; otlicrs that it was one Titian, who by the direction of .Tudas entered in at a window of tlie house where .Jesus was, to kill him ; and oUiers tliat it was Judas lumself, whoagrcctl with the rulers of tlie Jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver, and led those who were sent to take him. They add s, that Jesus after his crucifixion in ejigie was sent down again to tlic ' Al Beidawi. Jallalo'ddin. ^ lideni. ^ y. Ludolfi Lexic. yEthiop. col. 40. ct Golii notJis ad cap. (!1. Kor.'mi, p. tido. J See Koran, c. 4. * V. Mar- race, in Ale. p. 113, &c. et in Protlr. part 3, p. 03, Cxc. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 61 of stratagems. When God said, O Jesus, verily I will cause thee to die'', and I will take thee up unto earth, to comfort his mother and disciples, and acquaint them how the Jews were de- ceived ; and was then taken up a second time into heaven. It is supposed by several that this story was an original invention of fllohammed's ; but they are certainly mistaken : for several sectaries held the same opinion, long before his time. The Basilidians ', in the very beginning of Christianity, denied that Christ himself suffered, but that Simon the Cyrenean was crucified in his place. The Cerinthians before them, and the Carpocratians next (to name no more of those, who affirmed Jesus to have been a mere man) did believe the same thing ; that it was not himself but one of his followers, very like him, that was crucified. Photius tells us, that he read a book entitled The journeys of the apostles, relating the acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul, and among other things contained therein, this was one, that Christ was not crucified, hut another in his stead, and that therefore lie hiugJied at his crucijicrs-, or those who thought they had crucified him -'. I have in another place ' mentioned an apocryphal gospel of Barnabas, a forgery originally of some nominal Christians, but interpolated since by IMohammedans ; which gives tliis part of the history of Jesus with circumstances too curious to be omitted. It is therein related, that the moment the Jews were going to apprehend Jesus in the garden, he was snatched up into the third heaven, by the ministry of four angels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel ; that he wUl not die till the end of the world, and that it was Judas who was crucified in his stead ; God having per- mitted that traitor to appear so like his master, in the eyes of the .Tews, that they took and delivered him to Pilate. That this resemblance was so great, that it deceived the Virgin INIary and the apostles themselves ; but that Jesus Christ afterwards obtained leave of God to go and comfort them. That Barnabas having then asked him, why the divine goodness had suffered the mother and disciples of so holy a prophet to believe even for one moment that he had died in so ignominious a manner ? Jesus returned the following answer. " O Barnabas, believe me that every sin, how small soever, is punished by God with great torment, because God is offended with sin. JMy motlier therefore and faithful disciples, having loved me with a mixture of earthly love, die just God has been pleased to punish this love with their present grief, that they might not be punished for it liereafter in the flames of heU. And as for me, though I have myself been blameless in the world, yet other men having called me God, and the son of God ; therefore God, that I might not be mocked by the devils at the day of judgment, has been pleased that in this world I should be mocked by men with the death of Judas, making every body believe that I died upon the cross. And hence it is that this mocking is still to continue till the coming of Mohammed, the messenger of God ; who, coming into the world, will undeceive every one who shaU believe in the law of God, from this mistake ^" " It is the opinion of a great many Mohammedans, that Jesus was taken up into hea- ven without dying : which opinion is consonant to what is delivered in the spurious gospel aoovementioned. Wherefore several of the commentators say that there is a hysterou proteron in these words, / xvill cause thee to die, and I •will take thee up nnto me ; and tliat the copulative does not import order, or that he died before his assumption ; the meaning being this, t'(:r. that God would first take Jesus up to heaven, and deliver him from the infidels, and afterwards cause him to die: which they suppose is to happen when he shall return into the world again, before the last day ". Some, thinking the order of the words is not to be changed, interpret them figuratively, and suppose their signification to be that Jesus was lifted up while he was asleep, or that God caused him to die a spiritual death to all worldly desires. But others acknowledge that he actually died a natural death, and continued in that state three hours, or, according to another tradition, seven hours; after which he was re- stored to life, and then taken up to heaven ". • Irenseus, 1. 1 , c. 2'd, &c. Epiphan. Ha;res. 24, num. 3. '^ Photius, Bibh Cod. 114, col. 291. 3 Toland's Nazarenus, p. 17, &c. " Prelim. Disc. § IV. p. 102. s See the Menagiana, Tom. 4, p. 32G, &c. « See the Prelim. Disc. § IV. p. 111. ? Al Beidawi, 62 AL KOKAN. [Chap. 3. me^, and I will deliver thee from the unbelievers; and I will place those who follow thee above the un- believers, until the day of resurrection'': then unto me shall ye return, and I will judge between you of that concerning which ye disagree. Moreover, as for the infidels, I will punish them witli a grievous pu- nishment in this world, and in that which is to come ; and there shall be none to help them. But they who believe, and do that which is right, he shall give them their reward : for God loveth not the wicked doers. These signs and this prudent admonition do we re- hearse unto thee. Verily the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is as the likeness of Adam : he created him out of the dust, and then said unto him. Be ; and he was'^*. This is the truth from thy Lord ; be not therefore 0}2e of those who doubt : and whoever shall dispute with thee concerning him '^, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, say icnto them, Come, let us call together our sons, and your sons, and our wives, and your wives, and ourselves, and yourselves ; then let us make imprecations, and lay the curse of God on those who lie". Verily this is a true history: and " Some Mohammedans say this was done by die ministry of Gabriel : but others that a strong whirlwind took him up from mount Olivet '. ■' That is, they who beUeve in Jesus (among whom the Mahommedans reckon themselves) shall be for ever superior to the Jews, both in arguments and in arms. And accordingly, says al Beidawi, to this very day the Jews have never prevailed either against the Christians or Moslems, nor have they any kingdom or established government of their own. = He was like to Adam in respect of his miraculous production by the immediate power of (rod -. * " In the sight of the Highest, Jesus is a man like unto Adam. Adam was created out of the dust. God said unto him, Be ! and he was." — Suvari/. •^ Namely, Jesus. •^ To explain this passage the commentators tell the following story. That some Christians, with their bishop named Abu Hareth, coming to 3Iohammed as ambas- sadors from the inhabitants of Najran, and entering into some disputes with him touching religion and the history of Jesus Clirist, they agreed the next morning to abide the trial here mentioned, as a quick way of deciding which of them were in the wrong. IMohammed met them accordingly, accompanied by his daughter Fatima, his son-in-law All, and his two grandsons, Hasan and Hosein, and desired tliem to wait till he had said liis prayers. But when they saw him kneel down, dieir resolu- tion failed tliem, and they durst not venture to curse him, but submitted to pay him tribute '. • Al Thalabi. See 2 Kings ii. 1, 11. ' Jallalo'ddin, &c 3 Jal- lalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 63 there is no God, but God ; and God is most mighty and wise. If they turn back, God well knoweth the evil doers. Say, O ye who have received the scripture, come to a just determination between us and you"; that we worship not any except God, and associate no creature with him ; and that the one of us take not the other for lords'", beside God. But if they turn back, say. Bear witness that we are true believers. O ye to whom the scriptures have been given, why do ye dispute concerning Abraham ^ since the Law and the Gospel were not sent down until after him ? Do ye not therefore understand ? Behold ye are they Avho dispute concerning that Mdiicli ye have some knowledge in ; why therefore do ye dispute concerning that which ye have no knowledge of '^P God knoweth, but ye know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian ; but he was of the true religion, one resigned unto God, and was not of the number of' the idolaters. Verily the men who are the nearest of kin unto Abraham are they who follow him ; and this prophet, and they who believe on him : God is the patron of the faithful. Some of those who have received the scriptures desire to seduce you*"; but they seduce themselves only, and they perceive it not. O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye not believe in the signs of God, since ye are witnesses of them ? O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye clothe truth with vanity, and knowingly hide the truth*? And some of those to whom the scrip- " That is, to such terms of agreement as are indisputably consonant to the doc- trine of all the prophets and scriptures, and therefore cannot be reasonably rejected '. •• Besides other charges of idolatry on the Jews and Christians, Mohammed ac- cused them of paying too implicit an obedience to their priests and monks, who took upon them to pronounce what things were lawful, and what unlawful, and to dis- pense with the laws of God ^ <^ viz. By pretending him to have been of your religion. ** i. c. Ye perversely dispute even concerning those things which ye find in the Law and the Gospel, whereby it appears that they were both sent down long after Abraham's time : why then will ye offer to dispute concerning such points of Abra- ham's religion, of which your scriptures say nothing, and of which ye consequently can have no knowledge ^ ? « This passage was revealed when the Jew.-i endeavoured to pervert Hodheifa, Ammar, and Moadh to their religion ''. f The Jews and Christians are again accused of corrupting the scriptures, and stifling the prophecies concerning Blohammed. 1 Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. '^ lidem. ^ Al Beidawi. ^ Idem. 64 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. tures were given say, Believe in that whicli hath been sent down imto those who believe, in the beginning of the day; and deny if in the end thereof; tljat they may go back_/ro/w their Jaitli '" : and believe him only who followeth your religion. Say, Verily the tri/c di- rection is the direction of God, that there may be given unto some other a revelation like unto A\diat hath been given unto you. "Will they dispute with you before your Loud ? Say, Surely excellence is in the hand of God, he giveth it unto whom he pleaseth ; God is bounteous and wise : he will confer peculiar mercy on ^vllom he pleaseth ; for God is endued with great beneficence. There is of those who have received the scriptures, inito whom if thou trust a talent, he will restore it unto thee''; and there is also of them, vmto whom if thou trust a dinar, he will not restore it unto thee, unless thou stand over him continually tvith great urgency". This theij do, because they say, * The commentators to explain this ])assage say, that Caab Ebn al Ashraf and Malec Ebn al Seif (two Jews of Medina) advised their companions, when the Kebla ■was changed ', to make as if they believed it was done by the divine direction, and to pray towards the Caaba in the morning, but that in the evening they should pray as formerly towards the temple of Jerusalem ; that Mohammed's followers, imagining the Jews were better judges of this matter than tliemselves, might imitate their ex- ample. But others say these were certain Jewisli priests of Khaibar, who directed some of their people to pretend in the morning that they had embraced IVloham- medisni, but in the close of the day to say that they had looketl into their books of scripture, and consulted their Rabbins, and could not find that Mohammed was the person described and intended in the law ; by which trick tliey hoped to raise doubts in the minds of the Mohammedans '2. '' As an instance of this, the commentators bring Abd'aUali Ebn Salam, a Jew, very intimate with Mohammed^, to whom one of the Koreish lent 1200 ounces of gold, which he very punctually paid at the time appointed ■*. "^ Al Beidawi produces an example of sucli a piece of injustice in one Phineas Ebn A z lira, a Jew, who borrowed a diiiAr, which is a gold coin worth about ten shillings, of a Koreishite, and afterwards had the conscience to deny it. But the person more directly struck at in this passage was the abovementionctl Caab Ebn al Ashraf, a most inveterate enemy of INIohammed and his religion, of whom Jallalo'ddin relates the same story as al Beidawi does of Phineas. This C:uib after the battle of Bedr went to Mecca, and there, to excite the Koreish to revenge themselves, made and recited verses lamenting the death of those who were slain in that battle, and reflecting very severely on 31ohammed; and he afterwards returned to Medina, and had the boldness to repeat them publicly there also ; at which 3Io- hammed was so exceedingly provoketl, that he proscribed him, and sent a party of men to kill him, and he was circumvented and slain by Mohammed Ebn Moslema in the third year of the Hejra '. Dr. Prideaux <" has confounded tlie Caab we are now ' See before c. 2, p. 24. ^ Al Beidawi. ^ See Prideaux's Life of Mahom. p. .33. < A 1 Beidawi. Jallalo'ddin. ■ Al Jannabi. Elmacin. « Life of Mahom. p. 78, &c Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 65 We are not obliged to observe justice with the heathen : but they utter a lie against God, knowingly. Yea, whoso keepeth his covenant, and feareth God, God surely loveth those who fear him. But they who make merchandize of God's covenant, and of their oaths, for a small price, shall have no portion in the next life, neither shall God speak to them or regard them on the day of resurrection, nor shall he cleanse them ; but they shall suffer a grievous punishment. And there are certainly some of them, who read the scriptures perversely, that ye may think n^hat they read to be really in the scriptures, yet it is not in the scripture ; and they say, This is from God ; but it is not from God : and they speak that which is false concerning God, against their own knowledge. It is not ft for a man, that God should give him a book of revelations, and wisdom, and prophecy ; and then he should say unto men, Be ye worshippers of me, besides God ; but he ought to say. Be ye perfect in knowledge and in works, since ye know the scriptures, and exercise your- selves therein". God hath not commanded yau to take the angels and the prophets for your Lords : Will he command you to become infidels, after ye have been true believers? And remember when God accepted the covenant of the prophets ^ saying. This verily is speaking of, with another very different person of the same name, and a famous poet, but who was the son of Zohair, and no Jev/; as a learned gentleman has already observed '. In consequence of whicli mistake, the doctor attributes what the Arabian historians write of the latter, to the former, and wrongly affirms that he was not put to death by Mohammed. Some of the commentators however suppose that in the former part of this passage the Christians are intended, who, they say, are generally people of some honour and justice ; and in the latter part the Jews, who they think are more given to cheating and dishonesty -. " This passage was revealed, say the comvnentators, in answer to the Christians, who insisted that Jesus had commanded them to worship him as God. Al Beidawi adds that two Christians, named Abu Rafe al Koradhi and al Seyid al Najrani, offered to acknowledge Mohammed for their Lord, and to worship him ; to which he answered, God jorUcl that ttv; should worship any besides God. ^ Some commentators interpret this of the children of Israel themselves, of whose race the prophets were. But others say the souls of all the prophets, even of those who were not then born, were present on mount Sinai, when God gave the law to Moses, and that they entered into the covenant here mentioned with him. A story borrowed by Mohammed from the Talmudists, and therefore most probably his true meaning in this place. • V. Gagnier, in Not. ad Abulfcd. Vit. IMoh. p. 04, et 122. ^ Al Beidawi. VOL. I. F 66 AL KoiiAN. [Chap. 3. the scripture and the wisdom whicli I have given you : hereafter shall an apostle come unto you, confirming the trutli of that scriplure whicli is with you; ye shall surely believe in him, and ye shall assist him. God said. Are ye firmly resolved, and do ye accept my covenant on this condition ? They answered, AAV are firmly resolved : God said, Be ye therefore witnesses ; and I also bear witness with you : and Avhosoever turnetli back after this, they are surely the trans- gressors. Do they therefore seek any other religion but God's ? since to him is resigned whosoever is in heaven or on earth, voluntarily, or of force : and to him shall they return. Say, We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that which was sent down unto Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the- tribes, and that which was delivered to Moses, and Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord ; we make no distinction between any of them ; and to him are we resigned. Whoever followeth any other religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him : and in the next life he shall be of those who perish '\ How shall God direct men who have become infidels after they had believed, and borne witness that the apostle was true, and ma- nifest declarations of the divine xcill had come unto them? for God directeth not the ungodly people. Their reward shall be, that on them shaUjall the curse of God, and of angels, and of all mankind : they shall remain under the same for ever ; their torment shall not be mitigated, neither shall they be regarded ; except those who repent after this, and amend ; for God is gracious and merciful. Moreover they who become infidels after they have believed, and yet increase in infidelity, their repentance shall in no wise be accepted, and they are those who go astray. Verily they who believe not, and die in their unbelief, the world full of gold shall in no wise be accepted from any of them, even though he should give it for his ransom ; they » See before, cli. 2. p. 11, not. c. Chap. 3.] AL KOUAX. 67 shall suffer a grievous punishment, and they shall have none to help them. * Ye will never IV. attain unto righteousness, until ye give in alms of that which ye love: and whatever ye give, God knoweth it. All food was permitted unto the children of Israel, except what Israel forbad unto himself % before the Pentateuch was sent down ^ Say unto the Jeu\% Bring hither the Pentateuch and read it, if ye speak truth. Whoever therefore contriveth a lie against God after this, they will be evil doers. Say, God is true : follow ye therefore the religion of Abraham the orthodox; for he was no idolater. Verily the first house appointed unto men to u-orship in was that which is in Becca"^ ; blessed, and a direction to all creatures ''. Therein are manifest signs": the place where Abraham stood; and whoever entereth therein, shall be safe. And it is a duty towards God, incumbent on those who are able to go thither ^, to visit this house ; but » This passage was revealed on ths Jews reproaching IVIohammed and his followers with their ealii°g of tlis flesh and milk of cnmels ', which they said was forbidden Abraham, whose religion JMohammed pretended to follow. In answer to which lie tells them, that God ordained no distinction cf meats before he gave the law to Moses, though Jacob voluntarily abstained from the flesh and milk of camels ; which some commentators say was the consequence of a vow made by that patriarch, when afflicted witli the sciatica, that if he were cured he would eat no more of that meat which he liked best; and that was camel's flesh: but otliers suppose he abstained from it by tlie advice of physicians only-. This exposition seems to be taken from the children of Israel's not eating of tlie sinew on the hollow of the thigh, because the angel, with whom Jacob wrestled at Peniel, touched the IwUoic' of Ms thigh in the sinew that shrank^. •> Wherein the Israelites,' because of their wickedness and perverseness, were for. bidden to eat certain animals which had been allowed their predecessors^^. "^ Mohammed received this passage, when the Jews said that their Kebla, or the temple of Jerusalem, was more ancient than that of the Mohammedans, or the Caaba 5. Becca is another name of Mecca «. Al Beiduwi observes that the Arabs used the M and B promiscuously in several words. d L e. The Kebla, towards which they are to turn their faces in prayer. « Such as the stone wherein they show tlie print of Abraham's feet, and the in- violable security of the place, immediately mentioned ; that the birds light not on the roof of the Kaaba, and wild beasts put off their fierceness there ; that none who came against it in a hostile manner ever prospered ', as appeared particularly in tlie unfortunate expedition of Abraha al Ashram >* ; and other fables of the same stamp which the ]\Iohammedans are taught to believe. f According to an exposition of this passage, attributed to Jlohammed, he is sup- > See Lev. xi. 4. Deut. xiv. 7. - Al Bcidawi, Jallalo'ddin. ^ Gen. xxxii. ;V2. ^ Koran, c. 4. See the notes there. ■' Al Beidawi, Jallalo'ddin. 6 See the Prelim. Disc. § 1. p. 4. ? Jallalo'ddin, Al Beidawi. » See Koran, c. lOo. F 2 68 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. whosoever disbelieveth, verily God needeth not the service of any creature. Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye not believe in the signs of God ? Say, O ye who have received the scriptures, why do ye keep back from the way of God, him who believeth? Ye seek to make it crooked, and yet are witnesses fl/at it is tJie rigid : but God will not be unmindful of what ye do. O true believers, if ye obey some of those who have received the scripture, they will render you infidels, after ye have believed " : and liow can ye be infidels, when the signs of God are read unto you, and his apostle is among you? But he who cleaveth firmly unto God, is already directed into the right way. O believers, fear God with his true fear ; and die not vmless ye also be true believers*. And cleave all oj you unto the covenant'' of God, and depart wot from it, and remember the favour of God posed to be able to perform the pilgrimage, who can supply himself with pronsions for the journey, and a beast to ride upon. Al Sliafei has decided that those who have money enouirh, if they caiiJiot go themselves, must hire some other to go in their room. IMaLc Ebn Ans thinks lie is to be reckoned ithh\ who is stroni; and healthy, and can bear the fatigue of tlie journey on foot, if he has no beast to ride, and can also cam his living by the way. But Abu Hanifa is of opinion that botli money sufncient and health of body are requisite to make the pilgrimage a duty '. " 'J'iiis passage was revealed on occasion of a quarrel excited between the tribes of al Aws and al Khazraj, by one Shas Ebn Kais, a Jew; who passing by some of both tribes as they were sitting and discoursing familiarly together, and being in- wardly vexed at the friendship and harmony which reigned among them on their embracing I\Iohammedism, whereas ihey had been, for 120 years before, most in- veterate and mortal enemies, though descendants of two brothers ; in order to set them at variance, sent a young man to sit down by them, directing him to relate the stoiy of the battle of IJoath (a place near Medina), wherein, iifter a bloody fight, al Aws had the better of al Khr.zr.aj, and to repeat some verses on that subject. The young man executed liis ordeiv ; whereupon those of each tribe began to magnify themselves, and to reflect on and irritate the other, till at length tliey ciUlcd to arms, and great numbers getting together on each side, a dangerous battle had ensued, if IMohammcd had not stcpt in and reconciled them ; by representing to them how uui.ji tliey would be to Mame if they returned to paganism, and revivetl those animosities which IslAm had compobcd ; arid telling then;, that what had happened was a trick of the devil to disturb their present tranquUlity '-. • " O believers! have a righteous fear of God, and ye will die in the faith.'' — So vary. ** Literally, Hold fast h>/ thr cord of God. That is, Sfcinr your/tdven hy adhering to Islam, whicli is here mctaphovically expressed by a con/, because it is as sure a me.ans of saving those who profess it from perishing hereafter, as holding by a rope is to prevent one's falling into a well, or other like place. It is sai>l that Moliammed used for tile same reason to call the Korim, llabl Allah al matin, i. e. the sun: cord o/God '. ' Al UeidiWi. ^ Idem. ' Idem. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 69 towards you : since ye were enemies, and he reconciled your hearts, and ye became companions and brethren by his favour : and ye were on the brink of a pit of fire, and he delivered you thence. Thus God declareth unto you his signs, that ye may be directed. Let there be people among you, who invite to the best religion ; and command that which is just, and forbid that which is evil ; and they shall be happy. And be not as they who are divided, and disagree in matters of religion % after manifest proofs have been brought unto them : they shall suffer a great torment. On the day of re- surrection some faces shall become white, and other faces shall become black ''. And unto them whose faces shall become black, God xvill say. Have ye re- turned unto your unbelief, after ye had believed? therefore taste the punishment, for that ye have been unbelievers : but they whose faces shall become white shall be in the mercy of God, therein shall they remain for ever. These are the signs of God : we recite them unto thee with truth. God will not deal unjustly with his creatures. And to God hehngeth whatever is in heaven and on earth ; and to God shall all things return. Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind : ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in God. And if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them ; there are believers among them \ but the greater part of them are transgressors. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you ; and they shall not be helped''. They are smitten with vileness where- " i. e. As the Jews and Christians, who dispute concerning the unity of God, the future state, &c. '. '' See the Preliminary Discourse, § IV. '^ As Abd'allah Ebn Salam and his companions ^, and those of the tribes of al Aws and al Khazraj who had embraced ]\Iohammedism. •• This verse, al Beidawi says, is one of those whose meaning is mysterious, and relates to something future ; intimating the low condition to which the Jewish tribes of Koreidha, Nadir, Banu Kainoka, and those who dwelt at Khaibar, were after- wards reduced by IMohammed. ' Al Beidawi. - Idem. 70 AL KOiiAX. [Chap. 3. soever they are found ; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with God, and a treaty with men '^ : and they draw on themselves indignation from God, and they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of God, and slew the prophets unjustly ; this, because they were rebellious, and transgressed. Yet they are not all alike : there are of those who have received the scrip- tures, upright people ^ ; they meditate on the signs of God " in the night season, and worship ; they believe in God, and the last day ; and command that which is just, and forbid that which is unjust, and zealously strive to excel in good works : these are of the righteous. And ye shall not be denied the reward oj the good whicli ye do '' ; for God knoweth the pious. As for the unbelievers, their wealth shall not profit them at all, neither their children, against God : they shall be the companions of hell fire ; they shall continue therein for ever. The likeness of that which they lay out in this present life *, is as a wind wherein there is a scorching cold : it falleth on the standing corn of those men who have injured their own souls, and destroyeth it. And God dealeth not unjustly with them ; but they injure their own souls. O true be- lievers, contract not an intimate friendship nith any besides yourselves '^ : they will not fail to corrupt you. They wish for that which may cause you to perish : their hatred hath already appeared from out of their mouths ; but what their breasts conceal is yet more inveterate. We have already shown you signs of their ill "dull towards you, if ye understand. Behold, ye love them, and they do not love you : ye believe in all the scriptures, and when they meet you, they say, We " i. c. Unless they either profess tlie fliohammedan reli^on, or submit to pay tribute. '' Those namely who have embraced Islam. " That is the Kor;\n. <* Some copies have a different reading in tliis passage, wliich they express in the third person ; The;/ shall not be dciiud, &c. • " Their alms are like unto an icy wind, wliich blowclh on the fields of the perverse, and destroyeth tiair productions." — Savuti/. ' i. t: Of u chflfercnt religion. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 71 believe ; but when they assemble privately together, they bite their fingers' ends out of wrath against you. Say unto them, Die in your wrath : verily God knowetli the innermost part of your breasts. If good happen unto you, it grieveth them ; and if evil befal you, they rejoice at it. But if ye be patient, and fear God, their subtilty shall not hurt you at all ; for God compre- liendeth whatever they do. Call to rnind when thou wentest forth early from thy family, that thou mightest prepare the faithful a camp for war ^ ; and God heard and knew it ; v/hen two companies of you were anxiously thoughtful, so that ye became faint-hearted'' ; but God was the supporter of them both ; and in God let the faithful trust. And God had already given you the victory at Bedr% when ye were inferior hi member; therefore fear God, that ye may be thankful. When thou saidst unto the faithful, Is it not enough » This was at the battle of Ohod, a mountain about four miles to the north of Medina. The Koreish, to revenge their loss at Bedr ', the next year, being the third of the Hejra, got together an army of 3000 men, among whom there were 200 horse, and 700 armed with coats of mail. These forces marched under I'lc conduct of Abu Sofian and sat down at Dhu'lholeifa, a village about six miles fiom Jlcdina. JVIohammed being much inferior to his enemies in nun^ber, at first determined to keep himself within the town, and receive them there ; but afterwards, tlie advice of some of his companions prevailing, he marched out against them at the head of lOOO men (some say he had 1050 nien and others but JJOO), of whom 100 were armed with coats of mail, but he had no more than one horse, besides his own, in his whole army. ^\^ith these forces he formed a camp in a village near Ohod, which mountain he contrived to have on his back ; and the better to secure his men from being sur- rounded, he placed fifty archers in the rear, with strict orders not to quit their post. When they came to engage, Mohanmied had the better at first, but afterwards by the fault of his archers, who left their ranks for the sake of the plunder, and suftered the enemies' horse to encompass the JMohammedans and attack them in the rear, he lost the day, and was very near losmg his life ; being struck down by a shower of stones, and wounded in the face with two arrows, on pulling out of wiiich his two foreteeth dropped out. Of the IMoslems 70 men were slain, and among them Hamza the uncle of Blohammed, and of the infidels 22 2. To excuse the ill success of this battle, and to raise the drooping courage of his followers, is I\lohammed's drift in the remaining part of this chapter. ^ These were some of the families of Banu Salma of the tribe of al Khazraj, and Banu'l Ilareth of the tribe of al Aws, who composed the two wings of Mohammed's army. Some ill impression had been made on them by Abda'Uah Ebn Obba Soldi, then an infidel, wlio having drawn off 300 men, told them that they were going to certain death, and advised them to return back witli him ; but he could prevail on but a few, the others being kept firm by the divine influence, as the following words intimate 3. '^ See before, p. 52. > See before, p. 52. - Abuifcda, in Vita ]\Ioham. p, Gl, Sec. Elmacin. I. 1. Pridcdux's Life of Mah. p. HO. ^ Al Ceidawi. 72 Ai. KOUAN. [Chap. 3. for you, that your Loud should assist you with three thousand angels, sent down /row? heaven ? Verily if ye persevere, and fear God, and i/oiir enanics come upon you suddenly, your Lord will assist you with five thousand angels, distinguished by their horses and a/lire ". And this God designed only as good tidings for you '' that your hearts might rest secure : for victory is from God alone, the mighty, the wise. That he should cut olf the uttermost part of the unbelievers, or cast them down, or that they should be overthrown and unsuccessful *, is notliing to thee. It is no business of thine ; whether God be turned unto them, or whetlitr lie punish them ; they are surely unjust doers *. To God belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth : he spareth whom he pleaseth, and he punisheth whom he pleaseth ; for God is merciful. O true believers, devour not usury, doubling it tw ofold ; but fear God, that ye may prosper : and fear the fire which is i)re- pared for the unbelievers ; and obey God, and Ids apostle, that ye may obtain mercy. And run witli emulation to obtain remission from your Lord, and paradise, whose breadth equalleth the heavens and the earth, which is prepared for the godly ; who give alms in prosperity and adversity; who bridle their anger, and forgive men : for God loveth the beneficent "'. " The an2;el.s wIjo assisted the Mohammedans at Bedr, rode, say the commentators, on black and white horses, and had on their heads white and yellow sashes, the ends of which liir.ig down between their shoulders. '' i. c. As an earnest of future success. • " lie, at '.lis pleasure, can overthrow the infidels, put them to flight, or exter- minate tliem." — Savary. * Tiiis passage was revealed when Mohammed received the wounds abovemcntioncd at the battle of Ohod, and cried out ILkv shall thut inoplc prosper uho have slahird ifnir prophet's fiicc -c'ltii lilovd, -while he ealled them to their Lord? The person who wounded him was Otha the son of Abu Wakkas '. '' It is related of Hasan the son of Ali, that a slave having once thrown a dish on him boihng liot, as he sat at table, and fearing his master's resentment, fell innnc- diately on his knees, and repeated these words, Paradise is for those -u-hn Iridic their aiiger: Hasan answered, / atn not ouixnj. The slave procecdetl, and for those rcho forffive men : I forgive i/oii, said Hasan. Tlie slave however finished the verse, adding,,/br GoD loveth the hencjiccut. Since it is so, replied Hasan, / f,nre yon i/onr tiherty, and fonr hnndred pieces of silver-. A noble insumce of moderation and generosity. ' Al Ikidawi. Abulted. ubi supra. ^ V. D'Hcrbelot, Bibl. Orient. Art. Hassan. Chap. 3.] AL KOiiAX. ' 73 And wlio, after tliey have committed a crime, or dealt imjustly with their own souls, remember God, and ask pardon for their sins, (for who forgiveth sins except God?) and persevere not in what they have done knowingly : their reward shall be pardon from their Loud, and gardens wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein for ever : and how excellent is the reward of those who labour ! There have already been before you examples of punishment qfhifidels*, there- fore go through the earth, and behold what hath been the end of those who accuse Go^'^ «/JO-5//})?irt issldiii, rdurn to >/oiir auchnit rcUgUm, iiiid to ijoiir J'l'icitds ; (/'MohamiTicd had been a prophet he hud not been xhiin. It is relatetl that a Moblcm named Ans Ebn al Nadar, uncle to JMalec Ebn Ans, hearing these words, said aloud to his companions, Mi/ friends, thongli Mohammed be .iluin, eertainlij MolKnnined'.i Lord Viveth and dieth not ; therefore value not your live.'! xinec the prophet is dead, hut fight for the cause Jhr whieh he fought: then he cried out, O God I am excused before thee, and acquitted in thi/ sight of 'u'hat they say ; a:id drawing his sword fouglit valiantly till he was killed '. ^ JMoliauimed, t'ne more effectually to still the murmurs of his party on their de- feat, represents to them that the time of every man's dcat'n is dccreetl and prede- termined by God, and that those who fell in the battle could not liave avoided tlieir fate, had they staid at home ; whereas they had now obtained the glorinis advantage of dying martyrs for the faith. Of the JMohammcdan doctrine of absolute prede- stination I liave spoken in another place '^. •^ This passage was also occasioned by the endeavours of the Korcish to seduce Uic Mohannnedans to their old idolatry, as they fled in tiie battle of Ohod. Al Bcidawi. ^ Prelim. Disc. ^ IV Chap. 3.] AL KoiL'xN. 75 surely cast a dread into the hearts of the unbelievers % because they have associated with God that concerning which he sent them down no power : their dwelling- shall be the fire of hell ; and the receptacle of the wicked shall be miserable. God had already made good unto you his promise, when ye destroyed them by his permission'', until ye became faint-hearted, and dis- puted concerning the command of the apostle^ and were rebellious''; after God had shown you what ye desired. Some of you chose this present world, and others of you chose the world to come''. Then he turned you to flight from before them, that he might make trial of you : (but he hath now pardoned you : for God is endued with beneficence towards the faith- ful ;) when ye went up as ye fled, and looked not back on any*: while the apostle called you% in the utter- most part of you. Therefore God rewarded you with affliction on affliction, that ye be not grieved hereafter for the spoils which ye fail of, nor for that which be- falleth you*"; for God is well acquainted with what- " To this Mohammed attributed the sudden retreat of Abu Sofian and his troops, without making any farther advantage of their success ; only giving IMohammed a challenge to meet them next year at Bedr, wliich he accepted. Others say, that as they were on their march home, they repented they had not utterly extirpated the Mohammedans, and began to think of going back to Medina for that purpose ; but were prevented by a sudden consternation or panic fear, which fell on them from God '. '' i. c. In the beginning of the battle, when the Aloslems had the advantage, put- ting the idolaters to flight, and killing several of them. '•■ That is, till the bow-men, who were placed beliind to prevent their being sur- rounded, seeing the enemy fly, quitted their post, contrary to ]\Iohammed's express orders, and dispersed themselves to seize the plunder ; whereupon Khaled Ebn al Walid, perceiving their disorder, fell on their rear with the horse which he com- manded, and turned the fortune of the day. It is related that though Abda'llah Ebn Johair, their captain, did all he could to make them keep their ranks, he had not ten tiiat staid \vith him out of the whole fifty '. '' The former were they who, tempted by the spoil, quitted their post ; and the latter they who stood firm by their leader. * " When you took to disorderly flight, you no longer listened to the voice of the apostle, who called you back to the combat. Heaven chastised you for your disobedi- ence. Let not your disgrace, and the loss of booty, render you inconsolable ; all your actions are known unto God." — Savary. •= Crying aloud, Conic hither to me, O servants of God; I am the apostle of God: he who retiirneth back shall enter paradise. But notwithstanding all his endeavours to rally his men, he could not get above thirty of them about him. f i. c. God punished your avarice and disobedience by suffering you to be beaten by your enemies, and to be discouraged by the report of your prophet's death ; that ye might be inured to patiente under adverse fortune, and not repine at any loss or disappointment for the future. ' Al Beidawi. ' Idem. V. Abulfcd. Vit. Moh. p. 65, 60, ct not, ib. 76 AL KORAN. [Chap. 3. ever ye do. Then he sent down upon you after affliction security ; a soft sleep which fell on some part of you ; but other part were troubled by their own souls'**; falsely thinking of GoD a foolish imagination, saying, Will any thing of the matter Imppen unto us^? Say, Veril}'^ the matter belori^eth wholly unto God. They concealed in their minds what they declared not unto thee ; saying ^ If any thing of the matter had hap- pened unto us*^, we had not been slain here. Answer, If ye had been in your houses, verily they would have gone forth to fight, whose slaughter was decreed, to the places where they died, and this came to jmss that God might try what was in your breasts, and might discern what was in your hearts ; for God knoweth the inner- most parts of the breasts of men. \'^erily they among you who turned their backs on the day whereon the two armies met each other at Oliod, Satan caused them to slij), for some crime which they had committed'': but now hath God forgiven them ; for God is gracious and merciful. O true believers, be not as they who believed not, and said of their brethren, when they had journeyed in the land or had been at war. If they had been with us, those had not died, nor had these been slain : ivhereas niiat bejel them was so ordained that God might make it matter of sighing in their hearts. God giveth life, and causeth to die : and God seeth that which ye do. Moreover if ye be slain, or die in * After the action, those who had stood firm in the battie were refreshed, as they lay in the field, by falling into an ;'.t;reeable sleep, so that the swords fell out of their hands ; but those who had behaved themselves ill were troubled in their minds, imagining they were now given over to destruction '. * " After this disastrous event (lod caused security and .dumber to descend upon a part of you. The others, disturbed in mind, dared, in their wild imaginations, to attribute falsehood unto Ooti. Are these, said they, the promises of the prophet ? Answer to them, The Highest is the author of this calamity." — Savary. *> That is. Is there any appearance of success, or of the divine favour and assist, ance which we have been promised * ? "^ I. c. To themselves, or to one another in private. J If God had assisted us according to his promise; or, as others interpret tlie words, if we had taken the advice of Abdullah Ebn Obba Solid, and had kept within the town of Jledina; our companions had not lost their livcs3. * Tiiz. For their covetousness in quitting their post to seize the plunder. ' Al Beidawi. J.dlalo'ddiii. - li.leni. ' lidcm. Chap. 3.] AL KORAN. 77 defence of the religion of God ; verily pardon from God, and mercy, is better than what they heap toge- ther of' 'worlcUij riches. And if ye die, or be slain, verily unto God shall ye be gathered. And as to the mercy granted unto the disobedient from God, thou O Mohammed hast been mild towards them ; but if thou hadst been severe, and hard-hearted, they had surely separated themselves from about thee. Therefore for- give them, and ask pardon for them : and consult them in the affair of ivar ; and after thou hast deliberated, trust in God ; for God loveth those who trust in him. If God help you, none shall conquer you ; but if he desert you, who is it that wdll help you after him ? Therefore in God let the faithful trust. It is not the part of a prophet to defraud'', for he who defraudeth, shall bring with him what he hath defrauded any one of, on the day of the resurrection ^. Then shall every soul be paid what he hath gained ; and they shall not be treated unjustly. Shall he therefore who followeth that which is well-pleasing unto God be as he who bringeth on himself wrath from God, and whose re- ceptacle is hell? an evil journey shall it be thither. There shall be degrees of renmrds and pimishments v/ith God, for God seeth what they do. Now hath God been gracious unto the believers when he raised up among them an apostle of their own nation % who should recite his signs unto them, and purify them, and teach them the book of the Koran and wisdom'^; " Tins passage was revealed, as some say, on the division of the ?poil at Cedr; when some of the soldiers suspected Bli^hammed of having privately taken a scarlet carpet made all of silk and very rich, which was missing '. Others suppose the archers, who occasioned the loss of the battle of Ohod, left their station because they imagined Mohanmied would not give them their share of the plunder ; because, as it h related, he once sent out a party as an advanced guard, and in the mean time attacking the enemy, took some spoUs which he divided among those who were witli him in tlie action, and gave nothing to the party that was absent on duty^. ^ According to a tradition of IMohammed, whoever cheateth another will on the day of judgment carry his fraudulent purchase publicly on his neck. '' Some copies instead of 711 in anfusihim, i. e. of ihemschcs, read vii7i anfasihim, i. e. of the noblest among than ; for such was the tribe of Koreish, of wliich Mo- hammed was descended 3. "* (. e. The Sonna''. ' Al Bciuawi, Jallalo'ddin. 2 ^\ Beidawi. 3 Idem. -^ Idem. 78 AL Kor.AX. [Chap. 3. whereas they were before in manifest error. After a misfortune hath l)efallen you at Oliod, (ye had ah-eady obtained two equal advantages*) do ye say, Whence Cometh this? Answer, This is from yourselves'*: for God is almighty. And Avhat happened unto you, on the day whereon the two armies met, was certainly by the permission of GoD ; and that he might know the faithful, and that he might know the ungodly. It was said vnito them. Come, fight for the religion of God, or drive back the enemy : they answered. If we had known ye xceiit cut to fight, we had certainly followed you*". They were on that day nearer unto unbelief, than they were to faith ; they spake with their mouths, what was not in their hearts : but God perfectly knew what they concealed ; Avho said of their brethren, xch'ile tJiemselves stayed at home, if they had obeyed us, they had not been slain. Say, Then keep back death from yourselves, if ye say truth. Thou shalt in no wise reckon those who have been slain at Ohocl, in the cause of God, dead ; nay, they are sustained alive with their LoiiD"^, re^ joicing for what God of his favour hath granted them : and being glad for those, who coming after them, have not as yet overtaken them^; because there shall no fear come on them, neither shall they be grieved. They are filled with joy for the favour rchich ihey hare received from God, and his bounty ; and for that God suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish. They who hearkened unto God and his apostle, after a wound had befallen them at ()}iod\ such of them as do good » viz. In the battle of Bcdr, where ye slew seventy of the enemy, equalling the number of those who lost their hves at Ohod, and also took as many prisoners '. '' It was the consequence of your disobeying the orders of tlie prophet, and aban- doning your post for the sake of plunder. <^ That is, if we had conceived tlie least hopes of success when ye marched out of Medina to encounter tlie infidels, and iiad not known that ye went rather to certain destruction than to battle, we had gone with you. But this IVIohammed here tells them was only a feigned excuse ; the true reason of their staying behind being their want of faith and tirmness in their religion'. '^ See before, p. 2(i. « i. c. Rejoicing also for their ?akes, who are destined to suffer martyrdom, but have not as yet attained it ^ f The conunentators differ a little as to the occasion of tliis passage. M'hcn news > See before, p. 52. - Al Ceidawi. * V. Revel, vi. 11. Chap f3.] AL KOiiAX. 79 works, and fear God^ shall have a great reward ; unto whom certain men said. Verily the men