Читать книгу The Koran (Al-Qur'an) - Anonymous - Страница 20

3 See the notes to Kor. c. 81, and the preceding page. 1 In this also they follow their old guides, the Jews, who say that if the wheat which is sown naked rise clothed, it is no wonder the pious who are buried in their clothes should rise with them. Gemar. Sanhedr. fol. 90. 2 See before, Sect. I. p. 16.

who glory in their own works: the sixth will gnaw their tongues, which will hang down upon their breasts, corrupted blood flowing from their mouths like spittle, so that everybody 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 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 Korân 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 prophet mentioned Syria for the place; others, a white and even tract of land, without inhabitants or any signs of buildings. Al Ghazâli 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 heavens and new earth mentioned in scripture: whence the Korân has this expression, "on the day wherein the earth shall be changed into another earth."1 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 and irrational animals also,2 shall be judged on this great day; when the unarmed cattle shall take vengeance on the horned, till entire satisfaction shall be given to the injured.3 As to mankind, they hold that when they are all assembled together, they will not be immediately brought to judgment, but the angels will keep them in their ranks and order while they attend for that purpose; and this attendance some say is to last forty years, others seventy, others 300, nay, some say no less than 50,000 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

1 Cap. 14. 2 Kor. c. 6. Vide Maimonid. More Nev. part iii. c. 17. 3 This 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 saith the LORD GOD, Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle, and between the lean cattle; because ye have thrust 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 prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle," &c. Ezek. xxxiv. 17, 20, 21, 22. Much might be said concerning brutes deserving future reward and punishment. See Bayle, Dict. Hist. Art. Rorarius, Rem. D. &c.

pain, is a wonderful 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 provoked 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,1 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, and also with hunger, and thirst, and a stifling air, that they will cry out, "Lord, deliver us from this anguish, though thou send us into hell fire."2 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 from its sheath, in which it is now put up, lest it should destroy all things by its excessive heat.3 When those who have risen shall have waited the limited time, the Mohammedans believe GOD will at length appear to judge them; Mohammed undertaking 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,4 and will command 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 respects, but to oblige the person to make public confession 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 that no less than 70,000 of his followers should be permitted to enter paradise without any previous examination, which seems to be contradictory to what is said above. To the questions we have mentioned each person shall answer, and make 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

1 Al Ghazâli. 2 Idem. 3 Vide Pocock, not. in Port. Mosis, p. 277. 4 See before, p. 56.

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 preceding dispute, was borrowed by the Mohammedans from the Jews:5 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 and the soul. As these apologies will not avail on that day, 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 Mohammedans 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, will last no longer than while one may milk an ewe, or than the space between the two milkings of a she-camel.1 Some, explaining those words so frequently used in the Korân, "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.2 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.4 To show the exact justice which will be observed on this great day of trial, the next thing they describe is the balance, wherein all things shall be weighted. 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 Korân concerning this balance, allegorically, and only as a figurative representation of GOD'S equity, yet the more ancient and orthodox opinion is that it is to be taken literally; and since words and actions, being mere accidents, are not capable of being themselves

5 Gemara, Sanhed. c. II. R. Jos. Albo, Serm. iv. c. 33. See also Epiphan. in Ancorat. sect. 89. 1 The Arabs use, after they have drawn some milk from the camel, to wait a while and let her young one suck a little, that she may give down her milk more plentifully at the second milking. 2 Pocock, not. in Port. Mosis, p. 278–282. See also Kor. c. 2, p. 21. 3 Kor. c. 17, 18, 69, and 84. 4 Jallalo'ddin.

weighed, they say that the books wherein they are written will be thrown into the scales, and according as those wherein the good or the evil actions are recorded shall preponderate, sentence will be given; those whose balance laden with their good works shall be heavy, will be saved, but those whose balances are light will be condemned.5 Nor will any one have cause to complain that GOD suffers any good action to pass unrewarded, because the wicked for the good they do have their reward in this life, and therefore can expect no favour in the next. The old Jewish writers make mention as well of the books to be produced at the last day, wherein men's actions are registered,6 as of the balance wherein they shall be weighed;7 and the scripture itself seems to have given the first notion of both.8 But what the Persian Magi believe of the balance comes nearest to the Mohammedan opinion. They hold that on the day of judgment two angels, named Mihr and Sorûsh, will stand on the bridge we shall describe by- and-bye, to examine every person as he passes; that the former, who represents the divine mercy, will hold a balance in his hand, to weigh the actions of men; that according to the report he shall make thereof to GOD, sentence will be pronounced, and those whose good works are found more ponderous, if they turn the scale but by the weight of a hair, will be permitted to pass forward to paradise; but those whose good works shall be found light, will be by the other angel, who represents GOD'S justice, precipitated from the bridge into hell.1 This examination being passed, and every one's works weighed in a just balance, that mutual retaliation will follow, according to which every creature 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 proportionable part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it. Which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry 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 his mercy cause it to be doubled unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise; but if, on the contrary, his good works be exhausted, 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 hell laden with both. This will be the method of GOD'S dealing with mankind. As to brutes, after they shall have likewise taken vengeance of one another, as we have mentioned above, he will command them to be changed into dust;2 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 opinion that such of them as are true believers will undergo the same fate as the irrational animals, and

5 Kor. c. 23, 7, &c. 6 Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni, f. 153, c. 3. 7 Gemar. Sanhedr. f. 91, &c. 8 Exod. xxxii. 32, 33, Dan. vii. 10, Revel. xx. 12, &c., and Dan. v. 27. 1 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245, 401, &c. 2 Yet they say the dog of the seven sleepers, and Ezra's ass, which was raised to life, will, by peculiar favour, be admitted into paradise. See Kor. c. 18, and c. 3.

have no other reward than the favour of being converted into dust; and for this they quote the authority of their prophet. But this, however, is judged not so very 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 rewarded for their faith, as well as to be punished for 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 eternally, 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.1 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 Sirât, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and described 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 Mótazalites 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 prophet; who to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with briars 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, 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.2 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 Pûl Chînavad, or Chînavar, that is, the straight bridge, leading directly into the other world; on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed by GOD to perform that office, will stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned.3 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.1 As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mohammedans 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.2 The first which they call Jehennam, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one GOD, that is, the wicked Mohammedans,

1 Vide Kor. c. 18. 2 Pocock. ubi sup. p. 282–289. 3 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245, 402, &c. 1 Midrash, Yalkut Reubeni. § Gehinnom. 2 Kor. c. 15.

who after having there been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released. The second, uamed Ladhâ, they assign to the Jews; the third, named al Hotama, to the Christians; the fourth named al Säir, to the Sabians; the fifth, named Sakar, to the Magians; the sixth, named al Jahîm, to the idolaters; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst of all, and is called al Hâwiyat, to the hypocrites, or those who outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none.3 Over each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels,4 nineteen in number;5 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 delivered by being annihilated.6 Mohammed has, in his Korân 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 cauldron. The condition of these unhappy 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, according to that frequent expression in the Korân, "they must remain therein for ever." It must be remarked, however, 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 heretical; 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 an believed the unity of GOD be condemned to eternal punishment. As to the time and manner of the deliverance of those believers whose evil actions shall 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 infernals, GOD will, on their prayers, take from them that opprobrious appellation. 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 profound sleep, that they may be the less sensible of their torments; and that they shall afterwards be received into paradise, and there revive on their being washed with the water of life; though some suppose they will

3 Others fill these apartments with different company. Some place in the second, the idolaters; in the third, Gog and Magog, &c.; in the fourth, the devils; in the fifth, those who neglect alms and prayers; and crowd the Jews, Christians, and Magians together in the sixth. Some, again, will have the first to be prepared for the Dahrians, or those who deny the creation, and believe the eternity of the world; the second, for the Dualists, or Manichees, 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. Vide Millium, de Mohammedismo ante Moham. p. 412; D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 368, &c. 4 Kor. c. 40, 43, 74, &c. 5 Ibid. c. 74. 6 Ibid. c. 40, 43.

be restored to life before they come forth 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 shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than 900 years, nor more than 7,000. And as to the manner of their delivery, 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 characteristic, they will be relieved 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 life, which will wash them whiter than pearls.1 For most of these circumstances relating to hell and the state of the damned, Mohammed was likewise, in all probability, indebted to the Jews, and in part to the Magians; both of whom agree in making seven distinct apartments in hell,2 though they vary in other particulars. The former place an angel as a guard over each of these infernal apartments, and suppose he will intercede for the miserable wretches there imprisoned, who will openly acknowledge the justice of GOD in their condemnation.1 They also teach that the wicked will suffer a diversity of punishments, and that by intolerable cold2 as well as heat, and that their faces shall become black;3 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 exactly 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.4 The Magians allow but one angel to preside over all the seven hells, who is named by them Vanánd Yezád, 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.5 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 nature; and, therefore, they rather choose to describe the damned souls as suffering by other kinds of punishments: such as an intolerable stink, the stinging and biting of serpents and wild beasts, the cutting and tearing of the flesh by the devils, excessive hunger and thirst, and the like.6 Before we proceed to a description of the Mohammedan paradise, we must not forget to say something of the wall or partition which they imagine to be between that place and hell, and seems to be copied

1 Poc. not. in Port. Mosis, p. 289–291. 2 Nishmat hayim, f. 32; Gemar. in Arubin, f. 19; Zohar. ad Exod. xxvi. 2, &c.; and Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245. 1 Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni, part II, f. 116. 2 Zohar. ad Exod. xix. 3 Yalkut Shemuni, ubi sup. f. 86. 4 Nishmat hayim, f. 83; Gemar. Arubin, f. 19. Vide Kor. c. 2, p. 10, and 3, p. 34, and notes there. 5 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 182. 6 Vide Eundem, ibid. p.

from the great gulf of separation mentioned in scripture.7 They call it al Orf, and more frequently in the plural, al Arâf, a word derived from the verb arafa, which signifies to distinguish between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, they say, those who stand on this partition will know and distinguish the blessed from the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics:8 and others say the word properly intends anything that is high raised or elevated, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to be.9 The Mohammedan writers greatly differ as to the persons who are to be found on al Arâf. Some imagine it to be a sort of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity, among whom, they say, there will be also angels in the form of men. Others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and, therefore, deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, they say, will, on the last day, be admitted into paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to overbalance. Others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs. The breadth of this partition wall cannot be supposed to be exceeding great, since not only those who shall stand thereon will hold conference with the inhabitants both of paradise and of hell, but the blessed and the damned themselves will also be able to talk to one another.1 If Mohammed did not take his notions of the partition we have been describing from scripture, he must at least have borrowed it at second-hand from the Jews, who mention a thin wall dividing paradise form hell.2 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 pond 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.3 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 Korân, yet it is a dispute among Mohammedans whether it be already created, or be to be created hereafter: the Mótazalites and some other sectaries 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 different form that form which Adam was expelled. However, the orthodox profess the contrary, maintaining that it was created even

7 Luke xvi. 26. 8 Jallalo'ddin. Vide Kor. c.7. 9 Al

Beidâwi. 1 Kor. ubi sup Vide D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 121, &c.

2 Midrash. Yalkut Sioni. f. II. 3 Al Ghazâli.

before the world, and describe it, from their prophet's traditions, in the following manner. They 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 that the earth of it is of the finest wheat flour, or of the purest musk, or, as others will have it, of saffron; that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver, and that the trunks of all its trees are of gold, among which the most remarkable is the tree called Tûba, or the tree of happiness. Concerning this tree they fable that it stands in the palace of Mohammed, though a breach of it will reach to the house of every true believer;1 that it will be laden 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 bend down to the hand of the person who would gather of its fruits, and that it will supply the blessed not only with 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.2 As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Korân often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal ornament thereof; some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey, all taking their rise from the roof of the tree Tûba: two of which rivers, named al Cawthar and the river of life, we have already mentioned. And lest these should not be sufficient, 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 camphire, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron, the most remarkable among them being Salsabîl and Tasnîm. But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes, Hûr al oyûn, the enjoyment 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 Korân, 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, the garden of paradise, Jannet Aden, the garden of Eden (though they generally interpret the word Eden, not according to its acceptation in Hebrew, but according to its meaning in their

1 Yahya, in Kor.c. 13. 2 Jallal'oddin, ibid.

own tongue, wherein it signifies a settled or perpetual habitation), Jannat al Máwa, the garden of abode, Jannat al Naïm, the garden of pleasure, and the like; by which several appellations some understand 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 afford its inhabitants so many pleasures and delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not Mohammed declared, that in order to qualify the blessed for a full enjoyment of them, GOD will give to every one the abilities of a hundred men. We have already described Mohammed's pond, whereof the righteous are to drink before their admission into this delicious seat; besides which some authors1 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 off 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 inscriptions 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 observed 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 Korân, that the felicity of each person will be proportioned to this deserts, and that there will be abodes of different degrees of happiness; 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 made in respect to the time of their admission; Mohammed (to whom, if you will believe him, the gates will first be opened) having affirmed, that 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 declared, 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 Balâm, and the fish Nûn, the lobs of whose livers will suffice 70,000 men, being, as some imagine to be set before the principal guests, viz., those who, to that number, will be admitted into paradise without examination;2 though others suppose that a definite number is here put for an indefinite, and that

1 Al Ghazâli, Kenz al Afrâr 2 See before, p. 68.

nothing more is meant thereby, than to express a great multitude 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 proportioned to his merits, but vastly exceed comprehension 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 wives 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 waited 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, containing each a different kind of food, the last morsel of which will be as grateful as the first; and will also be supplied with as many sorts of liquors in vessels of the same metal: and, to complete the entertainment, there will be no want of wine, which, though forbidden in this life, will yet be freely allowed to be drunk 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 description, since the water of Tasnîm 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 prophets did, that the inhabitants of paradise will not need to ease themselves, nor even to blow their nose, for that all superfluities will be discharged and carried off by perspiration, or a sweat as odoriferous as musk, after which their appetite shall return afresh. The magnificence of the garments and furniture promised by the Korân to the godly in the next life, is answerable to the delicacy of their diet. For they are to be clothed in the richest of silks and brocades, chiefly of green, which will burst forth from the fruits of paradise, and will be also supplied by the leaves of the tree Tûba; they 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 what 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 youth; that in whatever age they happen to die, they will be raised in their prime and vigour, that 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 will 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 immediately attain; according to that saying of their prophet, "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 Israfîl, 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 music: nay, the very clashing of the golden-bodied trees, whose fruits are pearls and emeralds, will surpass 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 paradise, even those of the lowest order. What then, think we, must they enjoy who shall obtain a superior 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 expression most certainly borrowed from scripture.1 That we may know wherein the felicity of those who shall attain the highest degree will consist, Mohammed is reported to have said, that the meanest of the inhabitants of paradise will see his gardens, wives, servants, furniture, and other possessions take up the space of a thousand years' journey (for so far and farther will the blessed see in the next life); but that he will be in the highest honour with GOD, who shall behold his face morning and evening: and this favour al Ghazâli supposes to be that additional or superabundant recompense, promised in the Korân,2 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 author says, every other enjoyment is equally tasted by the very brute beast who is turned loose into luxuriant pasture.3 The reader will observe, by the way, that this is a full confutation of those who pretend that the Mohammedans admit of no spiritual pleasure in the next life, but make the happiness of the blessed to consist wholly in corporeal enjoyments.4 Whence Mohammed took the greatest part of his paradise it is easy to show. The Jews constantly describe the future mansion of the just as a delicious garden, and make it also reach to the seventh heaven.5 They also say it has three gates,6 or, as others will have it, two,7 and four rivers (which last circumstance they copied, to be sure, from those of the garden of Eden8), flowing with milk, wine, balsam, and honey.1 Their Behemoth and Leviathan, which they pretend will be slain for the entertainment of the blessed,2 are so apparently the Balâm and Nûn of Mohammed, that his followers themselves confess he is obliged to them for both.3 The Rabbins likewise mention seven different

1 Isaiah lxiv. 4; I Cor. ii. 9. 2 Cap. 10, &c. 3 Vide Poc. in not. ad Port. Mosis, p. 305. 4 Vide Reland, de Rel. Moh. l. 2, § 17. 5 Vide Gemar. Tânith, f. 25, Beracoth, f. 34, and Midrash sabboth, f. 37. 6 Megillah, Amkoth, p. 78. 7 Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni. 8 Gen. ii. 10, &c. 1 Midrash, Yalk. Shem. 2 Gemar. Bava Bathra. f. 78; Rashi, in Job i. 3 Vide Poc. not. in Port. Mosis, p. 298.

degrees of felicity,4 and say that the highest will be of those who perpetually contemplate the face of GOD.5 The Persian Magi had also an idea of the future happy estate of the good, very little different from that of Mohammed. Paradise they called Behisht, and Mînu, which signifies crystal, where they believe the righteous shall enjoy all manner of delights, and particularly the company of the Hurâni behisht, or black-eyed nymphs of paradise,6 the care of whom, they say, committed to the angel Zamiyâd;7 and hence Mohammed seems to have taken the first hint of his paradisiacal ladies. It is not improbable, however, but that he might have been obliged, in some respect, to the Christian accounts of the felicity of the good in the next life. As it is scarce possible to convey, especially to the apprehensions of the generality of mankind, an idea of spiritual pleasures without introducing sensible objects, the scriptures have been obliged to represent the celestial enjoyments by corporeal images; and to describe the mansion of the blessed as a glorious and magnificent city, built of gold and precious stones, with twelve gates; through the streets of which there runs a river of water of life, and having on either side the tree of life, which bears twelve sorts of fruits, and leaves of a healing virtue.8 Our Saviour likewise speaks of the future state of the blessed as of a kingdom where they shall eat and drink at his table.9 But then these descriptions have none of those puerile imaginations10 which reign throughout that of Mohammed, much less any the most distant intimation of sensual delights, which he was so fond of; on the contrary, we are expressly assured, that "in the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be as the angels of GOD in heaven."11 Mohammed, however, to enhance the value of paradise with his Arabians, chose rather to imitate the indecency of the Magians than the modesty of the Christians in this particular, and lest his beatified Moslems should complain that anything was wanting, bestows on them wives, as well as the other comforts of life; judging, it is to be presumed, from his own inclinations, that like Panurgus's ass,1 they would think all the other enjoyments not worth their acceptance if they were to be debarred from this. Had Mohammed, after all, intimated to his followers, that what he had told them of paradise was to be taken, not literally, but in a metaphorical sense (as it is said the Magians do the description of Zoroaster's2), this might, perhaps make some atonement; but the contrary is so evident from the whole tenour of the Korân, that although some

4 Nishmat hayim, f. 32. 5 Midrash, Tehillim, fl. II. 6 Sadder, porta 5. 7 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 265. 8 Rev. xxi. 10, &c., and xxii. I, 2. 9 Luke xxii. 29, 30, &c. 10 I would not, however, undertake to defend all the Christian writers in this particular; witness that one passage of Irenæus, wherein he introduces a tradition of St. John that our LORD should say, "The days shall come, in which there shall be vines, which shall have each ten thousand branches, and every of those branches shall have ten thousand lesser branches, and every of these branches shall have ten thousand twigs, and every one of these twigs shall have ten thousand clusters of grapes, and in every one of these clusters there shall be ten thousand grapes, and every one of these grapes being pressed shall yield two hundred and seventy-five gallons of wine; and when a man shall take hold of one of these sacred bunches, another bunch shall cry out, I am a better bunch: take me, and bless the LORD by me," &c. Iren. l. 5, c. 33. 11 Matth. xxii. 30. 1 Vide Rabelais, Pantagr. l. 5, c. 7. A better authority than this might, however, be alleged in favour of Mohammed's judgment in this respect; I mean that of Plato, who is said to have proposed, in his ideal commonwealth, as the reward of valiant men and consummate soldiers, the kisses of boys and beauteous damsels. Vide Gell. Noct. Att. l. 18, c. 2. 2 Vide Hyde. de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 266.

Mohammedans, whose understandings are too refined to admit such gross conceptions, look on their prophet's descriptions as parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual acceptation,3 yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptation; to prove which I need only urge the oath they exact from Christians (who they know abhor 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 engagement, they will affirm that there will be black-eyed girls in the next world, and corporeal pleasures.4 Before we quite this subject it may not be improper to observe the falsehood of a vulgar imputation on the Mohammedans, who are by several writers5 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 Korân 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.6 It is true, the general notion 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 allow 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 desire1); but that good women will go into a separate place of happiness, where they will enjoy all sorts of delights;2 but whether one of those delights will be the enjoyment of agreeable paramours created for them, to complete the economy of the Mohammedan system, is what I have nowhere found decided. One circumstance relating to these beatified females, conformable to what he had asserted of the men, he acquainted his followers with in the answer he returned to an old woman, who, desiring him to intercede 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 GOD would then make her young again.3 The sixth great point of faith, which the Mohammedans are taught by the Korân to believe, is GOD'S absolute decree, and predestination both of good and evil. For the orthodox doctrine is, that whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from all eternity in the preserved table;4 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 disobedience, and con

3 Vide Eund. in not. ad Bobov. Lit. Turcar. p. 21. 4 Poc. ad Port. Mos. P. 305. 5 Hornbek, Sum. Contr. p. 16. Grelot, Voyage de Constant. p. 275. Ricaut's Present State of the Ottoman Empire, l. 2, c. 21. 6 See Kor. c. 3, p. 52, c. 4, p. 67; and also c. 13, 16, 40, 48, 57, &c. Vide etiam Reland. de Rel. Moh. l. 2, § 18; and Hyde, in not. ad Bobov. de Visit. ægr. p. 21. 1 See before, p. 77. 2 Vide Chardin, Voy. tom. ii. p. 328, and Bayle, Dict. Hist. Art. Mahomet, Rem. Q. 3 See Kor. c. 56, and the notes there; and Gagnier. not. in Abulfeda Vit. Moh p. 145. 4 See before, p. 50.

sequently 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 great use in his Korân for the advancement of his designs; encouraging 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;5 and deterring them from disobeying 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 seduction, hardness of heart, and a reprobate mind, as a punishment for their obstinacy.6 As this doctrine of absolute election and reprobation has been thought by many of the Mohammedan divines to be derogatory to the goodness and justice of GOD, and to make GOD the author of evil, several subtle distinctions have been invented, and disputes raised, to explicate or soften it; and different sects have been formed, according to their several opinions or methods of explaining this point: some of them going so far as even to hold the direct contrary position of absolute free will in man, as we shall see hereafter.1 Of the four fundamental points of religious practice required by the Korân, the first is prayer, under which, as has been said, are also comprehended those legal washings or purifications which are necessary preparations thereto. Of these purifications there are two degrees, one called Ghosl, being a total immersion or bathing of the body in water; and the other called Wodû (by the Persians, Abdest), which is the washing of their faces, hands, and feet, after a certain manner. The first is required in some extraordinary cases only, as after having lain with a woman, or been polluted by emission of seed, or by approaching a dead body; women also being obliged to it after their courses or childbirth. The latter is the ordinary ablution in common cases and before prayer, and must necessarily be used by every person before he can enter upon that duty.2 It is performed with certain formal ceremonies, which have been described by some writers, but are much easier apprehended by seeing them done than by the best description. These purifications were perhaps borrowed by Mohammed of the Jews; at least they agree in a great measure with those used by that nation,3 who in process of time burdened 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.4 But as it is certain that the pagan Arabs used lustrations of this kind5 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 careless and perfunctory manner.

5 Kor. c. 3, c. 4, &c. 6 Ibid. c. 4, c. 2, &c. passim. 1 Sect. VIII. 2 Kor. c. 4, and c. 5 Vide Reland. de Rel. Moh. l. i., c. 8. 3 Poc. not in Port. Mosis, p. 356, &c. 4 Mark vii. 3, &c. 5 Vide Herodot. l. 3, c. 198.

The Mohammedans, however, will have it that they are as ancient as Abraham,1 who, they say, was enjoined by GOD to observe them, and was shown the manner of making the ablution by the angel Gabriel, in the form of a beautiful youth.2 Nay, some deduce the matter higher, and imagine that these ceremonies were taught our first parents by the angels.3 That his followers might be the more punctual in this duty, Mohammed is said to have declared, that "the practice of religion is founded on cleanliness," which is the one-half of the faith, and the key of prayer, without which it will not be heard by GOD.4 That these expressions may be the better understood, al Ghazâli reckons four degrees of purification; of which the first is, the cleansing of the body from all pollution, filth, and excrements; the second, the cleansing of the members of the body from all wickedness and unjust actions; the third, the cleansing of the heart from all blamable inclinations and odious vices; and the fourth, the purging 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 superstitiously 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.5 Whence it plainly appears with how little foundation the Mohammedans have been charged, by some writers,6 with teaching or imagining that these formal washings alone cleanse them for their sins.7 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;8 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 indebted to his own cunning,1 as to the example of the Jews, or perhaps that of the Persian Magi, almost as scrupulous as the Jews themselves in their lustrations, who both of them prescribe the same method in cases of necessity;2 and there is a famous instance, in ecclesiastical history, of sand being used, for the same reason, instead of water, in the administration of the Christian sacrament of baptism, many years before Mohammed's time.3 Neither are the Mohammedans contented with bare washing, but

1 Al Jannâbi in Vita Abrah. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 303. 2 Herewith agrees the spurious Gospel of St. Barnabas, the Spanish translation of which (cap. 29) has these words: Dixo Abraham, Que harè yo para servir al Dios de los sanctos y prophetas? Respondiò el angel, Ve e aquella fuente y lavate, porque Dios quiere hablar contigo. Dixo Abraham, Come tengo de lavarme? Luego el angel se le appareciò como uno bello mancebo, y se lavò en la fuente, y le dixo, Abraham, haz como yo. Y Abraham se lavò, &c. 3 Al Kessâï. Vide Reland. de Rel. Mohamm. p. 81. 4 Al Ghazâli, Ebn al Athîr. 5 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 302, &c. 6 Barthol. Edessen, Confut. Hagaren. p. 360. G. Sionita and J. Hesronita, in Tract. de Urb. and Morib. Orient. ad Calcem Geogr. Nubiens. c. 15. Du Ryer, dans le Sommaire de la Rel. des Turcs, mis à la tête de sa version de l'Alcor. St. Olon, Descr. du Royaume de Maroc, c. 2. Hyde, in not. ad Bobov. de Prec. Moh. p. I; Smith, de Morib. et Instit. Turcar. Ep. I, p. 32. 7 Vide Reland. de Rel. Moh. l. 2, c. II. 8 Kor. c. 3, p. 59 and 5, p. 74. 1 Vide Smith, ubi sup. 2 Gemar. Berachoth. c 2. Vide Poc. not. ad Port Mosis, p. 380. Sadder, porta 84. 3 Cedren. p. 250.

think themselves obliged to several other necessary points of cleanliness, which they make also parts of this duty; such as combing the hair, cutting the beard, paring the nails, pulling out the hairs of their armpits, shaving their private parts, and circumcision;4 of which last I will 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 Korân, is yet held by the Mohammedans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed by the religion of Islâm, and though not so absolutely necessary but that it may be dispensed with in some cases,5 yet highly proper and expedient. The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mohammed, having probably learned it from Ismael, though not only his descendants, but the Hamyarites,6 and other tribes, practised the same. The Ismaelites, we are told,7 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 operation:8 and the Mohammedans imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they be able, at least, distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, "There is no GOD but GOD, Mohammed is the apostle of GOD;"9 but pitch on what age they please for the purpose, between six and sixteen or thereabouts.10 Though the Moslem doctors are generally of opinion, conformably to the scripture, that this 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.1 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 Abraham 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;2 whence the Mohammedans affirm the same thing of their prophet.3 Prayer was by Mohammed thought so necessary a duty, that he used to call it the pillar of religion and the key of paradise; and when the Thakifites, who dwelt at Tâyef, 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,4 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 wherein was no prayer."5

4 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 303. 5 Vide Bobov. de Circumcis. p. 22. 6 Philostorg. Hist. Eccl. l. 3. 7 Joseph. Ant. l. I, c. 23. 8 Gen. xvii. 25. 9 Vide Bobov. ubi sup. and Poc. Spec. p. 319. 10 Vide Reland. de Rel. Moh. l. I, p. 75. 1 This is the substance of the following passage of the Gospel of Barnabas (cap. 23), viz.,Entonces dixo Jesus; Adam el primer hombre aviendo comido por eñgano del demonio la comida prohibida por Dios en el parayso, se le rebelò su carne à su espiritu; por lo qual jurò diziendo, Por Dios que yo te quiero cortar; y rompiendo una piedra tomò su carne para cortarla con el corte de la piedra. Por loqual fue reprehendido del angel Gabriel, y el le dixo; Yo he jurado por Dios que lo he de cortar, y mentiroso no lo serè jamas. Ala hora el angel le enseño la superfluidad de su earne, y a quella cortò. De manera que ansi como todo hombre toma carne de Adam, ansi esta obligado a complir aquello que Adam con juramento prometiò. 2 Shalshel. hakkabala. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 320; Gagnier not. in Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 2. 3 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 304. 4 See before, p. 14. 5 Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 127

That so important a duty, therefore, might not be neglected, Mohammed obliged his followers to pray five times every twenty-four hours, at certain state times; viz., I. In the morning, before sunrise; 2. When noon is past, and the sun begins to decline form the meridian; 3. In the afternoon, before sunset; 4. In the evening, after sunset, and before day be shut in; and 5. After the day is shut in, and before the first watch of the night.6 For this institution he pretended to have received the divine command from the throne of GOD himself, when he took his night journey to heaven; and the observing of the stated times of prayer is frequently insisted on in the Korân, though they be not particularly prescribed therein. Accordingly, at the aforesaid times, of which public notice is given by the Muedhdhins, or Criers, from the steeples of their mosques (for they use no bell), every conscientious Moslem prepares himself for prayer, which he performs either in the mosque or any other place, provided it be clean, after a prescribed form, and with a certain number of phrases or ejaculations (which the more scrupulous count by a string of beads) and using certain postures of worship; all which have been particularly set down and described, though with some few mistakes, by other writers,1 and ought 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 they turn their faces, while they pray, towards the temple of Mecca;2 the quarter where the same is situate being, for that reason, pointed out within their mosques by a niche, which they call al Mehrâb, 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 Kebla, or part towards which they ought to pray, in places where they have no other direction.3 But what is principally to be regarded in the discharge of this duty, say the Moslem doctors, is the inward disposition of the heart, which is the life and spirit of prayer;4 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:5 so that we must not think the Mohammedans, or the considerate part of them at least, content themselves with the mere opu. operatum, or imagine their whole religion to be placed therein.6 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 practice. 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 presence, lest they should seem proud and arrogant.7 The other is, that they admit not their women to pray with them in public; that sex being

6 Vide Ibid. p. 38, 39. 1 Vide Hotting. Hist. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 470–529; Bobov. in Liturg. Turcic p. I, &c.; Grelot, Voyage de Constant. p. 253–264; Chardin, Voy. de Perse, tom. ii. p. 388, &c.; and Smith, de Moribus ac Instit. Turcar. Ep. I, p. 33, &c. 2 Kor. c. 2, p. 16. See the notes there. 3 Vide Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 8, 9, and 126. 4 Al Ghazâli. 5 Vide Poc. Spec. p. 305. 6 Vide Smith, ubi sup. p. 40. 7 Reland. de Rel. Moh. p. 96. See Kor. c.7. p. 107.

obliged to perform their devotions at home, or if they visit the 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 from that which is requisite in a place dedicated to the worship of GOD.8 The greater part of the particulars comprised in the Mohammedan institution of prayer, their prophet seems to have copied from others, and especially the Jews; exceeding their institutions only in the number of daily prayer.1 The Jews are directed to pray three times a day,2 in the morning, in the evening, and within night; in imitation of Abraham,3 Isaac,4 and Jacob;5 and the practice was as early, at least, as the time of Daniel.6 The several postures used by the Mohammedans in their prayers are also the same with those prescribed by the Jewish Rabbins, and particularly the most solemn act of adoration, by prostrating themselves so as to touch the ground with their forehead;7 notwithstanding, 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.8 The Jews likewise constantly pray with their faces turned towards the temple of Jerusalem,9 which has been their Kebla from the time it was first dedicated by Solomon;10 for which reason Daniel, praying in Chaldea, had the windows of his chamber open towards that city:11 and the same was the Kebla of Mohammed and his followers for six or seven months,12 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 the garments they have on when they perform their duty, be clean:13 the men and women also among them pray apart (in which particular they were imitated by the eastern Christians); and several other conformities might be remarked between the Jewish public worship and that of the Mohammedans.14 The next point of the Mohammedan religion is the giving of alms, which are of two sorts, legal and voluntary. The legal alms are of indispensable obligation, being commanded by the law, which directs and determines both the portion which is to be given, and of what things it ought to be given; but the voluntary alms are left to every one's liberty, to give more or less, as he shall see fit. The former kind of alms some think to be properly called Zacât, and the latter Sadakat;

8 A Moor, named Ahmed Ebn Abdalla, in a Latin epistle by him, written to Maurice, Prince of Orange, and Emanuel, Prince of Portugal, containing a censure of the Christian religion (a copy of which, once belonging to Mr. Selden, who has thence transcribed a considerable passage in his treatise De Synedriis vett. Ebræor. l. I, c. 12, is now in the Bodleian Library), finds great fault with the unedifying manner in which mass is said among the Roman Catholics, for this very reason, among others. His words are: Ubicunque congregantur simul viri et fomino, ibi mens non est intenta et devota: nam inter celebrandum missam et sacrificia, fomino et viri mutuis aspectibus, signis, ac nutibus accendunt pravorum appetitum, et desideriorum suorum ignes: et quando hoc non fieret, saltem humana fragilitas delectatur mutuo et reciproco aspectu; et ita non potest esse mens quieta, attenta, et devota. 1 The Sabians, according to some, exceed the Mohammedans in this point, praying seven times a day. See before, p. 11. 2 Gemar. Berachoth. 3 Gen. xix. 27. 4 Gen. xxiv. 63. 5 Gen. xxviii. II, &c. 6 Dan. vi. 10. 7 Vide Millium, de Mohammedismo ante Moham. p. 427, &c., and Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 5, &c. 8 Maimonid. in Epist. ad Proselyt. Relig. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 306. 9 Gemar. Bava Bathra, and Berachoth. 10 I Kings viii. 29, &c. 11 Dan. vi. 10. 12 Some say eighteen months. Vide Abulfed. Vit. Moh. p. 54. 13 Maimon. in Halachoth Tephilla, c.9, § 8, 9. Menura hammeor, fol. 28, 2. 14 Vide Millium, ubi supra, p. 424, et seq.

though this name be also frequently given to the legal alms. They are called Zacât, either because they increase a man's store, by drawing down a blessing thereon, and produce in his soul the virtue of liberality,1 or because they purify the remaining part of one's substance from pollution, and the soul from the filth of avarice;2 and Sadakat, because they are a proof of a man's sincerity in the worship of GOD. Some writers have called the legal alms tithes, but improperly, since in some cases they fall short, and in others exceed that proportion. The giving of alms is frequently commanded in the Korân, and often recommended therein jointly with prayer; the former being held of great efficacy in causing the latter to be heard of GOD: for which reason the Khalîf Omar Ebn Abd'alaziz used to say, "that prayer and alms carries us half-way to GOD, fasting brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procures us admission."3 The Mohammedans, therefore, esteem almsdeeds to be highly meritorious, and many of them have been illustrious for the exercise thereof. Hasan, the son of Ali, and grandson of Mohammed, in particular is related to have thrice in his life divided his substance equally between himself and the poor, and twice to have given away all he had:4 and the generality are so addicted to the doing of good, that they extend their charity even to brutes.5 Alms, according to the prescriptions of the Mohammedan law, are to be given of five things-I. Of cattle, that is to say, of camels, kine, and sheep. 2. Of money. 3. Of corn. 4. Of fruits, viz., dates and raisins. And 5. Of wares sold. Of each of these a certain portion is to be given in alms, usually one part in forty, or two and a half per cent of the value. But no alms are due for them, unless they amount to a certain quantity or number; nor until a man has been in possession of them eleven months, he not being obliged to give alms thereout before the twelfth month is begun: nor are alms due for cattle employed in tilling the ground, or in carrying of burdens. In some cases a much larger portion than the before-mentioned is reckoned due for alms: thus of what is gotten out of mines, or the sea, or by any art or profession over and above what is sufficient for the reasonable support of a man's family, and especially where there is a mixture or suspicion of unjust gain, a fifth part ought to be given in alms. Moreover, at the end of the fast of Ramadân, every Moslem is obliged to give in alms for himself and for every one of his family, if he has any, a measure1 of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, rice, or other provisions commonly eaten.2 The legal alms were at first collected by Mohammed himself, who employed them as he thought fit, in the relief of his poor relations and followers, but chiefly applied them to the maintenance of those who served in his wars, and fought, as he termed it, in the way of GOD. His successors continued to do the same, till, in the process of time, other taxes and tributes being imposed for the support of the government,

1 Al Beidâwi. See Kor. c. 2, p. 29. 2 Idem. Compare this with what our Saviour says (Luke xi. 41), "Give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you." 3 D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 5. 4 Ibid. p. 422. 5 Vide Busbeq. Epist. 3, p. 178. Smith, de Morib. Turc. Ep. I, p. 66, &c. Compare Eccles. xi. I. and Prov. xii. 10. 1 This measure is a Saá, and contains about six or seven pounds weight. 2 Vide Reland. de Rel. Mahommed. lib. i., p. 99, &c. Chardin, Voy. de Perse. tom. 2, p. 415, &c.

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 righteousness,3 are greatly recommended by their Rabbins, and preferred even to sacrifices;4 as a duty, the frequent exercise whereof will effectually free a man from hell fire,5 and merit everlasting life:6 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,7 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.8 The Jews likewise were formerly very conspicuous for their charity. Zaccheus gave the half of his goods to the poor;9 and we are told that some gave their whole substance: so that their doctors, at length, decreed that no man should give above a fifth part of his goods in alms.10 There were also persons publicly appointed in every synagogue to collect and distribute the people's contributions.11 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 Ghazâli reckons fasting one-fourth part of the faith. According to the Mohammedan divines, there are three degrees of fasting: I. The restraining the belly and other parts of the body from satisfying their lusts; 2. The restraining the ears, eyes, tongue, hands, feet, and other members from sin; and 3. The fasting of the heart from worldly cares, and refraining the thoughts from everything besides GOD.1 The Mohammedans are obliged, by the express command of the Korân, to fast the whole month of Ramadân, from the time the new moon first appears, till the appearance of the next new moon; during which time they must abstain from eating, drinking, and women, from daybreak till night,2 or sunset. And this injunction they observe so strictly, that while they fast they suffer nothing to enter their mouths, or other parts of their body, esteeming the fast broken and null if they smell perfumes, take a clyster or injection, bathe, or even purposely swallow their spittle; some being so cautious that they will not open their mouths to speak, lest they should breathe the air too freely:3 the fast is also deemed void if a man kiss or touch a woman, or if he vomit designedly. But after sunset they are allowed to refresh themselves, and to eat and drink, and enjoy the company of their wives till daybreak;4

3 Hence alms are in the New Testament termed [Greek text]. Matth. vi. I (Ed. Steph.), and 2 Cor. ix. 10. 4 Gemar. in Bava Bathra. 5 Ibid. in Gittin. 6 Ibid. in Rosh hashana. 7 Levit. xix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv. 19, &c. 8 Vide Gemar. Hierosol. in Peah, and Maimon. in Halachoth matanoth Aniyyim. c.6. Confer Pirke Avoth, v. 9. 9 Luke xix. 8. 10 Vide Reland. Ant. Sacr. Vet. Hebr. p. 402. 11 Vide Ibid. p. 138. 1 Al Ghazâli, Al Mostatraf. 2 Kor. c. 2, p. 19, 20. 3 Hence we read that the Virgin Mary, to avoid answering the reflections cast on her for bringing home a child, was advised by the angel Gabriel to feign she had vowed a fast, and therefore she ought not to speak. See Kor. c. 19. 4 The words of the Korân (cap. 2, p. 20) are: "Until ye can distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daybreak"-a form of speaking borrowed by Mohammed from the Jews, who determine the time when they are to begin their morning lesson, to be so soon as a man can discern blue form white, i.e., the blue threads from the white threads in the fringes of their garments. But this explication the commentators do not approve, pretending that by the white

though the more rigid begin the fast again at midnight.5 This fast is extremely rigorous and mortifying when the month of Ramadân happens to fall in summer, for the Arabian year being lunar,6 each month runs 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 Ramadân was pitched on for this purpose is, that on the month the Korân was sent down from heaven.1 Some pretend that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus received their respective revelations in the same month.2 From the fast of Ramadân none are excused, except only travellers and sick persons (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, as 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.3 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,4 from daybreak until sunset, and the stars begin to appear;5 spending the night in taking what refreshments they please.6 And they allow women with child and giving suck, old persons, and young children to be exempted from keeping most of the public fasts.7 Though my design here be briefly to treat of those points only which are of indispensable obligation on a Moslem, and expressly required by the Korân, without entering into their practice as to voluntary and supererogatory works; yet to show how closely Mohammed's institutions follow the Jewish, I shall add a word or two of the voluntary fasts of the Mohammedans. These are such as have been recommended either by the example or approbation of their prophet; and especially certain days of those months which they esteem sacred: there being 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 the fast of one day in Ramadân was more meritorious than a fast of thirty days in a sacred month.8 Among the more commendable days is that of Ashûra, the tenth of Moharram; which, though some writers tell us it was observed by the Arabs, and particularly the tribe of Koreish, before Mohammed's time,9 yet, as others assure us, that prophet borrowed both the name and the fast from the Jews; it being with them the tenth of